Stay Forever True
by charis-chan
Summary: Per Sempre Vero: For one, Voldemort is dead and she is now something of a celebrity. For the other, she is alone and she is not liked. The two meet in an unpleasant way... what happens after? How can they cope with their new lives and the new bridges that will be built and those that will be burned? Who is Loony? But more importantly, who is Morgen? HG/LL. Rated M to be safe.
1. The Loony

**A/N:** For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.

However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure.

I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.

"Speak."

_'Thoughts.'_

**Warnings:** Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits.

**Disclaimer:** Nope, I don't own them… I just simply play with them and give them back at the end of the day. (Pretty much like nieces and nephews, you can spoil them, but they are not yours to rise. And you don't pay for them!)

**Chapter One- Loony**

"This is the third time, Miss Lovegood!"

Professor Flitwick stood in the middle of the stony hall. The little man's face was red in anger and she could easily see the tiny veins that throbbed in his forehead, even though it was nearly midnight and the light was dull. He was hissing at a niche she could not really see from her place just around the corner, but she was sure who he was hissing at.

There was something strange about that girl.

It was not because of the several strange little things she used that acted as jewelry, nor was it because her face was more often than not stained. It was not because her hair was the longest she had ever seen, reaching almost her knees, nor was it because she always had that lost, faraway look in her icy eyes.

No.

This girl was different, but it had nothing to do with the way she looked.

She was pretty, sure. Her face has already lost the baby fat most her classmates still had, and she could easily see a womanly figure starting to develop. Her blonde hair swayed with every step she took and her pale blue eyes barely shone with the light, giving her a haunted air of… loneliness. Yes, the girl was lonely. The lithe blonde was always by herself, reading in the corners and little niches that overpopulated the castle. The students parted like the Red Sea every time they saw her approaching and everybody in her year made it to never be near the one they called Loony.

Luna Lovegood.

If she could remember the Sorting Ceremony that was the name this strange petit girl had. She was a Claw, but, strangely enough, her tie and robes didn't bore the bronze/blue theme the others did. Her uniform was as black as they came when recently bought, and it was never worn properly. The skirt was always askew, the tie untied, the jacket untucked and she rarely wore the school socks, simply preferring those with rainbows, kittens or smiley faces.

Loony Lovegood.

That was the name the people called her. Be it her year-mates, housemates, classmates. Even the staff sometimes referred of her as that, but always in private and with each other, or in other words, when they thought nobody was near to hear them. Everybody _knew_ of her, but there was barely anyone that knew her.

Ginny Weasley was her only friend. Or, rather, had been her only friend. The young Gryffindor had entered a year after her youngest brother, and two years later, Luna Lovegood had entered Ravenclaw. It had been painfully obvious that years in Hogwarts have changed Ginny as she no longer wanted to be the blonde's friend, just as Ron's year apart from Ginny had strained their own relationship.

Poor Luna, she had arrived to Hogwarts believing that Ginny would still be willing to play with her, just as they had done in the past. She had believed that Ron was the sweet boy she remembered from her childhood, where he would play the groom to her bride, while Ginny married the heavily mismatched couple.

She herself had wanted to meet the girl, but the opportunity had never presented itself. She had seen her in the library countless of occasions, yet every time she had tried to approach her Ron or Harry had appeared in front of her trying to bribe her to do their homework, or she would simply lose her before she could try and get up from her customary table in the little nook that her favorite bookcases made. She really wanted to talk to the girl, but it was never meant to happen.

Where she can easily concede that she was the last to really know the girl, the blonde had sparked enough of her curiosity to actually try and get to know facts about the girl… only to be smacked in the face with the knowledge that nobody knew about her and those who did simply spoke rubbish about her.

The girl was a mystery, she would easily concede she had many quirks, but what she was seeing was definitely something beyond what she thought possible of her.

"Sorry, Professor."

That voice. Merlin, she had never heard something smaller, more scared, more wounded. She had never heard the girl speak before, but certainly this whispered echo was not what she expected. The little girl's voice trembled, in fear or cold, she was not sure. It was melodic, but she had the feeling that it was missing some warmth and joy. Why was this girl so scarred?

"That would be twenty points from Ravenclaw, Miss Lovegood." The exasperated Head of House nearly shouted. She had never seen the Professor this angry, this aggressive. This scary. She reacted before she could think.

"Uh, Professor Flitwick?" She walked slowly to where the man was, almost instantly seeing what the diminutive man was seeing.

She almost gasped.

Sure that was Luna Lovegood. But that was not the quirky second year Claw she had come to kind of know. This girl was a ghost. A little girl that had been broken so many times she was no longer human. This Luna was almost naked, only a thin camisole and a pair of white cotton panties protected her lithe body from the harsh December air. Her hair pointed everywhere and her cheeks were red and a little stained with dirt. Soft tears ran down her face, and, for the first time, her eyes shone with alarm.

"Ah, Miss Granger. I see you're taking your role as Prefect seriously." The half goblin smiled pleased.

_'How can he smile when Luna is there, terrified to death and freezing? The bastard is smiling!' _Hermione thought bitterly. "Yes, Professor." She betrayed nothing of what was running through her head. "This is the last part of my rounds." She looked at Luna, her features those of a neutral mask. If there was something she learnt at Hogwarts was that the less you showed of your emotions, the better you could deal with people. "What's going on here?"

Flitwick immediately turned stern again. "Miss Lovegood is out of her dormitory and in a state of poor clothing, _again_." He snarled.

_'Bad move there, Professor. Never get angry.'_ She blinked. "And may I inquire why that is?" Sure the man was intelligent enough to know that no girl, no one really, would be out in this weather at midnight by their own will, right?

The man just scoffed. "Miss Lovegood is a strange creature, Miss Granger. She does things like this all the time."

Hermione just managed to stop the snarl that wanted to come out to bite the small man's head off. Wizards had no common sense, that was true enough, but this was just ridiculous. Luna whimpered. "But sure there is a _reason _why Miss Lovegood is out here, ill dressed, on the cold December air at midnight, yes?" '_Please use your head for once, Filius! Someone did something to her, see the obvious man!'_

Apparently her silent prod went unheard because the man just shrugged. "Miss Lovegood is a strange creature." He repeated as he looked to the younger girl with something between pity and disgust. "You may leave to your dorm, girl. And no more wandering around!"

"Yes, Professor." Luna said softly and started walking… the opposite way from Ravenclaw's Tower.

"Good night, Professor." Hermione half nodded, half bowed to the Charms Professor before he could even blink. "I must finish my rounds."

"Very well, Miss Granger." There was that stupid smile again. "Good night to you too."

"Thank you Professor." She turned and walked briskly, easily following Luna's retreating form.

The girl was not exactly quick, but she had managed to almost round the corner at the end of a long hallway and Hermione had to run to catch her. She needed to talk to her, to see if she was alright, to make sure she was safe. That look in her eyes, when Flitwick had called her strange to her face, had nearly broken her heart in two. The girl had been hurt by her Head of House, and he didn't care.

"Miss Lovegood! Wait!" She called swiftly, reaching the girl after her speedy jog.

Luna stopped, dead in her tracks. She turned slowly, the hurt in her eyes gone only to be replaced by… nothing. The girl's face was void of emotion, she looked like a china doll. Her face was white as marble, stained with the mixture of tears and dirt. Her camisole easily showed how cold she was, but the barefoot girl didn't speak, simply looked at her.

"Are you ok?" Hermione asked. She was given no answer. "What happened, Miss Lovegood?" The girl simply looked away.

Hermione huffed softly, and Luna flinched faintly. The oldest girl rose an eyebrow. "Miss Lovegood?"

"There are Moon Frogs hopping behind you."

"Uh?" Looking slightly behind her, Hermione turned back just in time to stop a wandering Luna to escape her interrogation by holding her shoulder firmly with her right hand, noticing how the girl tensed. "Nice try, young lady, I'm not that easily distracted." Slowly putting her left hand in the other shoulder she felt the icy skin beneath her warm one, yet the little body didn't relax. "Now tell me. What is wrong?" Sure the girl had suffered from _something_, but the actual state of her clothes let her believe nothing _too_ bad had happened. Or at least she hoped so.

Luna just look through her. Not at her, no, through her.

Hermione sighed. This was a lost cause and it was late. She would have finished her rounds way earlier if she hadn't found a couple of third years snogging away near the Astronomy Tower and she was tired. _'But then again, I wouldn't have found Luna and Filius.' _Reaching to her chest she swiftly undo the clasp in her school robe and took it off. With a smile and a slight nod, she let the robe fall onto the other girl's shoulders. While the robe was at least two sizes too big, and three inches too long, it did wonders for the freezing little Claw. "Come on, then, I'll walk you to your dorm." She easily held her by the arm and started walking from where they were coming.

"No."

It was quiet, so quiet she was not sure exactly if the girl had spoken. "You said something?" Only to have a lifeless stare as her answer. _'Figure as much.'_ She just kept walking.

The girl didn't resist, though she didn't help either. She simply let herself been dragged through the school to the Ravenclaw Tower, besides the Gryffindor one.

Just when they were approaching the stairs that would led them to the bronze knocker when Luna came out of her stupor. "Stop."

Hermione stopped. At least this time she did hear something. "What's the matter?"

Luna finally looked at her. "Please, no."

Hermione simply blinked. "No what?"

"Please." It was said with so much emotion that the brunette was actually confused. A little moisture gathered at the corner of pale blue eyes. "Please."

"Please what?" Hermione murmured. She could understand the girl was scared, but not of what.

"Please don't make me go back!" And, then, Luna Lovegood broke.

XxXxX

**Hope you enjoyed this and please leave a review if you'd like.**


	2. The Nargle

**A/N:** For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.

However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure.

I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.

"Speak."

_'Thoughts.'_

Warnings: Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits, Consumption of Elven Leaves, OCC.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I just simply play with them and give them back at the end of the day. (Pretty much like nieces and nephews, you can spoil them, but they are not yours to rise. And you don't pay for them!)

**Chapter Two – The Nargle**

Luna Lovegood had always been a happy child. She had been raised by a loving mother and a doting father, both strong believers and strong magicians. Her mother was a Potion Master while her father was experienced in Magiczoology, and, a good writer.

Their little girl would not want for anything, as they did all they could for her. They took her with them on their journeys, they taught her magic and history, science and potions. She was well versed in several languages courtesy of their long adventures. They had let her grow at her own peace, at her own rhythm, as she wished. Being their only child, they saw no harm in doing so. The girl was born late in their lives, and they both knew she was their only chance at being parents.

That was why, when Selene Lovegood died after a potion accident, age seventy-one, little Luna's life was completely broken.

Her father loved her, yes, but he was now incomplete. He had lost the partner that had accompanied him for more than thirty years. The man had been devastated from his beloved death, so he turned to elven leaves and strong firewhiskey in order to numb what could possibly be the most painful wound he had ever had: his thorn heart.

With the booze and drugs always in her father's system, little seven-years-old Luna had to learn to fend for herself, one way or another. Because her parents believed that she would mature as she pleased, the girl was not exactly normal for most people standards. While kids were potty trained at age three, Luna only learnt the deed at six. While kids abandoned their bottles at four, Luna sometimes liked to go to bed with one at the time her mother died. At age nine she still fell asleep with her pacifier and a night light on.

When her mother died, she learnt somehow how to prepare her own food, and make her own bottles for comfort. She had to learn how to bath herself, because that was something her mother still enjoyed doing. She had to learn how to wash her clothes, how to clean her cuts, how to comb her hair, but that did not mean that she enjoyed it. She missed someone who could hold her, sing her to sleep, take care of her.

With no friends at the time other than Ginny, she had to provide for her own entertainment as well.

The creatures she had grown up hearing in bed time stories and legends suddenly came to life, swamping the lands where she grew up. There were no more travels for her and her father, but the beasts she had known from all around the world visited her in her imagination daily. Fairies danced with her at midnight and leprechauns liked to trade stories with her.

Little by little the only human friend she had ever had started to look at her with different eyes. Ginny was two years older, but that had never been a true impediment for their friendship. The redhead was no blind, though, she had always known that Luna was treated different as she was treated. At first she had believed it was because she had six older brothers, and that she was treated like one of them, not like the Lovegoods treated little Luna, a single child. But as she grew older and her mother started teaching her about boys and marriage, and babies, that she learnt that Luna was indeed, a big baby.

Her mother had babied her since birth and her father had done the same to appease her mother. Her mother would carry her around up until the day she died, while her father liked to rock her to sleep in a swing and her bottle. Luna was different, she was treated different. Molly did not like it, Arthur did not like it. Grandma Lovegood did not like it, and every adult that knew them did not like it. But Luna was used to it, so it didn't matter.

From age seven to age eleven, little Luna decided not to grow as normal kids should, but instead decided to play in her own little world and learn the magic in the books her mother had left behind. She played with potions, with her mother's wand and with every magical item her ancient house had. And because she was different, she had learnt to read at age two and liked to spend the hours she was not chasing Kappas and Gnomes reading and learning about the world she was born in.

So Luna was intelligent and knew her magic, but did not know a world different at the one she was raised in, that was why when her acceptance letter arrived, she, nor her father, could have been prepared for the strong contrast her home life and Hogwarts was.

XxXxX

"Miss Lovegood?" Hermione asked softly. The girl had simply crumbled in the hallway, silent tears were running down her cheeks and her small whimpers echoed in the late night. "Are you hurt?"

Hermione knew better than to ask if the girl was alright, because obviously she wasn't, but she could not tell why the girl had simply burst into tears. Silently, as if dealing with one of Hagrid's creatures, Hermione sat on the floor next to the younger girl and rested a warm hand on her head, softly scratching her scalp. This was something that her Grandmama did to her when she was scared. "Please tell me what's wrong."

Luna shook her head furiously. They told her not to tell, or else. She was not looking forward to find what _or else_ meant.

"Miss Lovegood. Tell me if you are hurt, or I'd have to take you to Madam Pomfrey to be safe."

"No." She whimpered. "Not her."

Hermione frowned. "Then I'll take you to the hospital wing and _I'll _check you over." She knew one or two things about magical medicine, and Madame Pomfrey liked to teach her spells every time she visited the wing, that was at least once a month if only to have her cramps subsided.

"No. No ho-hospital."

The brunette's frown deepened. She wanted to help her, but she didn't know how. "Please tell me what you want. How can I help?" The despair that she felt at the girl was too much for the mind focused girl. She was not used to deal with emotional issues, as she was not, by any means, an emotional person. But this, this girl, stirred feelings she did not know she had.

"Leave." The word was broken, just as the girl saying it. And although the command was easy to understand, what Hermione heard was totally opposite to it. _Stay._

With a heavy heart and not exactly sure of what she was doing, the fifth year Gryffindor silently and wandlessly casted a featherlight spell on the girl and easily picked her up. Luna, even after all those years without positive human contact, simply left her legs go around the taller girl and her arms to rest in between them. The girl was tiny and, much to their surprise, fit almost perfectly onto Hermione's form. "Let me take you somewhere warmer, uh?"

The blonde could not answer. She was being bombarded by the emotions Hermione's simple act made her feel. It had been ages since she had been patted in the head, and even longer since she had been carried around. So, she simply nodded.

Her legs hurt, because she had been wandering the school for almost three hours now. Her feet hurt, they were so cold the freezing cobblestone on them sent needles of pain through her. Her hands hurt, from where she hit the door of her Tower for an hour. Her head hurt, she had not been eating and sleeping as she should. Her skin hurt, the biting air, promising a good snow soon, had cut onto her pale skin and she could almost see the red, angry, patches of burnt skin.

But, her legs were now resting, this brunette was carrying her to somewhere she should be safe. Her feet were starting to feel other than pain, as they were firmly secured on the other girl's back. Her hands were safely tucked in between them, her tiny fists softly clenching the brunette's blazer. Her skin felt warmer than she remember ever feeling within the school, because this girl's robe was secured around her, protecting her, shielding her.

Luna Lovegood could not really focus other than what was happening at the time, but she could easily tell they were heading towards Gryffindor Tower, a place widely far from the Infirmary and from her own Tower. It was also apart from their Heads of House's quarters and most of the classrooms, so she was sure they were surely going to the Gryffindor Common Room.

That little fact made her feel scared, at top of everything she was already feeling. The school's rules were clear, no student from another House but their own could ever enter the Dorms of said House. She was a Ravenclaw, not a Gryffindor. She couldn't enter the older girl's House without violating that rule and risking punishment for both of them.

This girl was nice, she had seen her around in the library and the Great Hall at meals, but she had never spoken to her. She was part of the Golden Trio, the three kids that had defeated Voldemort mere months ago, just at the end of the Triwizards Tournament. She was best friend with Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice, and Ronald Weasley, the Snake-Slayer. This witch was dubbed Morgen by the masses. Luna frowned, not really sure why the older brunette had that nickname.

She was smart, the smartest witch of this age, if what the Prophet said was the true. She was Muggleborn, age fifteen when Voldemort was killed. The girl had yet to sit through her OWL's, but there were already whispers that many magical Universities wanted to recruit her, especially the ones in America.

Hermione Jean Granger. That was her name. And she had been nice to Luna. She had offered comfort in a way the brunette could not really understand, as Luna had missed hugs since her mother passed away. She was nice to her. She had tried to make Professor Flitwick to understand that there was indeed a reason she was almost naked and out of bed. She was nice to her. She had offered her robe, a really, really warm robe, that not only covered the shame of been almost naked, but also made her feel protected. She was nice to her.

So it would not do to get her in trouble just because she was trying to help.

"What's the matter?" A surprised Hermione asked the little blonde in her arms. The girl was wriggling and trying to free her legs, clearly wanting to be put down. She obeyed only to found herself holding the girl's shoulders again to prevent Luna to escape. "Hey, tell me what's wrong?"

Luna looked at the warm eyes that were doing the job at holding her in place. The hands on her shoulders were not restricting, no, though those feel nice, yet it were the eyes that made her simply stay. Hermione dark orbs were a sea of calmness that swept through her and made her plans to flee leave. But, she was so not going to get the older witch in trouble. "Nargles and Wrackspurts can't know the other's nest."

Hermione blinked once. Twice. That surely made no sense. "What are you talking about?"

Luna sighed. This girl was supposed to be bright, why could she not follow her? "Nargles and Wrackspurts can't know the other's nest."

The brunette frowned. "I don't know what a nargel and a wrackupus is."

"Narg_l_e and Wrack_spurt_."

"Okay." Hermione conceded. She remembered Ginny saying the girl liked to invent imaginary creatures. Maybe if she simply played along the girl would let her help her before it was dawn. "They can't know the other's nest, got it." She picked up the still featherlighted girl, just because the little blonde would be chilly soon, of course, not because she enjoyed the feeling of her against her chest. It was late and she wanted to rest. Luckily it was Friday and she could sleep in tomorrow.

Luna frowned. Hermione was carrying her again and was still walking towards the Gryffindor Tower. "Wrackspurts can't be in Nargles nests!" She said hurriedly into the older girl's ear. "Wrackspurts can't trouble Nargles!"

Hermione groaned internally. This girl was crazy. Cute and cuddly, but crazy. "They won't trouble anyone." _'Mainly because they are not real.'_

Luna's frown deepened, just as tears started gathering in her eyes. She liked Hermione. She did not want, her to get a detention or points taken. "Wrackspurts don't want to trouble Nargles." The tears finally started leaking. She let her forehead rest against the taller girl's shoulder, shaking. "Please. The Nargle is nice to the Wrackspurt. Wrackspurt don't want to trouble Nargle."

The brunette scowled, finally understanding the lithe girl, yet it took her some minutes to finally stop walking, hugging her a little closer to her. "You think you'd get me in trouble?"

Luna nodded. "Wrackspurts can't be in Nargles nests!" She whimpered.

Hermione stared down, mentally prompting the blonde to look up. Once she did, she smiled sadly. "This Wrackspurt won't trouble any Nargle, Luna." The older girl said softly, shocking Luna at the use of her first name. She was not aware the brunette knew it. Hermione slowly put the girl on her feet again, gently whipping the tears from her cheeks and delivering a quick kiss to her forehead. "We are not going to Gryffindor's Common Room."

Luna's skin heated where the soft lips pressed, wondering what did she do to deserve this angel from heaven.

XxXxX

**Please leave a review if you wish and tell me if you are liking this story.**

**Thank you for reading.**


	3. Chocolate

**A/N:** For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.

However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure, well more than sort of…

I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.

"Speak."

_'Thoughts.'_

Warnings: Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits, Consumption of Elven Leaves, OOC, Overall Wizarding Stupidity, Use of Barely-Legal-by-Wizards-Standards Narcotics.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I just simply play with them and give them back at the end of the day. (Pretty much like nieces and nephews, you can spoil them, but they are not yours to rise. And you don't pay for them!)

**Chapter Three - Chocolate**

Luna looked around at where they were. There was a huge portrait just beside them. Hermione held her hand gently and turned to look at it. They were aware of a faint shrill, it sounded as someone was trying to sing an aria and doing a poor job of it, but the blonde did not paid any mind to it, still shaken up at the care the older girl was giving her.

The human in the portrait was eyeing them. It was a nice man, not handsome or really cute, just nice. He was well built and his eyes shone with mischief. His hair was black as coal and he was sporting a small goatee. His wide hat matched perfectly with his red vest and he was holding a thin epée, which was currently directed at them. "It is quiet late, Lady Granger. Perhaps I shan't let you pass?"

Hermione scoffed. "Please, Baron. We have met later than this."

The fit man laughed. "Yes, we have, M'Lady. However, this is the first time you've bring company here." He eyed them with suspicious. "Shall I ring the alarm? Or shall you do something to avoid that."

Luna blinked, faintly aware of the last tears that fell thanks to that action. And they called _her_ strange! She could not hold a candle against this really weird man!

"Fine!" Hermione sighed, perfectly aware of what the man wanted. "Oh, grand Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds, the greatest man to ever walk on Earth! The most handsome, fit, and lovable portrait Hogwarts have ever had! The bravest Musketeer! The finer dancer! The most exquisite guest to ever grace the French Palaces! Porthos, the best lover a woman, or man, could hope to have! The most-"

The brunette was swiftly interrupted by a deep laugh that only made her growl. The man kept laughing at the reddening girl, while trying to speak. "Oh, Merlin!" He howled. "You get better each time!"

"Are you letting us in?" Hermione all but spat, truly annoyed. She immediately felt guilty, though, when the little blonde flinched, making her pale more than her already white complexion.

The man took a deep breath, trying to contain his mirth. "Secret Word?"

"Lantern Waste."

"You shall pass, M'Ladies." The portrait swung open.

"Come on, before he closes again." Hermione tugged on the girl's hand and crossed the archway that has been revealed. Luna simply nodded, not truly sure if this was safe, but scared enough of the annoyed witch to not say anything.

The room before them was not something she had expected. It was dimly lit, and whereas she had thought they were going into the older witch's House, even though she was told otherwise, this certainly could not be Gryffindor Common Room, especially if she were to compare it to her own Common Room. For starters, the room was too small. Ravenclaw's was as wide as the Tower it sat at, with several tables and chairs that allowed the research focused pupils to work finely. This room only had a small table, comfortable for maybe three, with as many chairs.

The Ravenclaw was expecting many big, comfy armchairs and sofas, the same that populated her House, and, if her common sense was right, in red and golden, just as her House's were blue and bronze, honoring their colors. Instead she was faced with a single deep purple loveseat and a lonely armchair just a tad lighter than the loveseat.

Ravenclaw's Common Room had four wide, grand, doors, besides the entrance one. Two for the facilities, men and women, and two that lead to a long staircase where the shared bedrooms rested, for both male and females. This room had four doors too, but she highly doubted they lead to the same rooms as her House, as they were more narrow and simple looking.

Her House was decorated in its own standard colors. Everything, for the sofas, the carpet, to the beds and curtains were a mix of shades of blue and bronze. It only made sense that Gryffindor's would be red and golden. But this room was simply not. There were accents of purple and lilac, in various shades and contrasts, but mostly it was a deep cherry that really made the room feel homey and cozy. The fireplace was big enough to lit and warm the place, but nothing near the gigantic ones they had at Ravenclaw which were wide enough to have a person lying on their floor; she should know as she had been in that spot several times.

Hermione led her to the sofa, and with a simple gesture of her wrists, the fire started. Luna had never sat in something more comfy. The cushions were soft and her body sunk just right in them, but her back was properly supported. With the fire on the room only felt more welcome to her. Absentminded, she felt how a throw blanket was firmly secured around her petit frame.

"Wait here." The older witch left the blonde seated and disappeared through one of the doors, the closest to the entrance.

Luna was too comfortable to disobey, and too curious of where the rest of the Gryffindors were. It was Friday night and she knew, just as the rest of the school knew, that there were four parties going on. There was always a party on full blast at each House every Friday night. Especially just before a Quidditch match. It was just a tradition all the students like to follow, even the always centered Claws. On Quidditch's Fridays the booze was always flowing like rivers. It made for a hung over team the next day, and the entertainment was to bet to the more wasted team to win, never mind House Points and the Quidditch Cup, the honor was to drink enough to knock out a horse and still be able to play well the following morning.

So, as she was wondering why there was not a party, she let her eyes catch every little detail the previous darkness had stopped her to see. Above the fireplace was a large ancient map, the chipped parchment made the swinging little ships look older and rustier, while some overly adorned monsters tried to catch them. Seeing mermaids and krakens chasing ships no bigger than her thumb would made her smile any other day, but tonight, the gentle peace in were they flow just made relax further.

She readjusted slightly, taking her shoes off and tucking her legs under her, not really minding she was a guest and that she was not entirely sure where she was. From her new position she could easily spot the little table, that in the light she could see was littered with several papers and the odd book laying in it. One of the chairs was turned and she could see that a full school bag had been tossed there carelessly. Under the table was a pair of shoes, and what looked like a lost sweater.

The walls were not really walls, amazingly enough. All the space that was not used as a door, or the fireplace, was covered in books. Bookcases that reached almost the ceiling were filled to the brim in books form all sizes and shapes. A quick glance allowed her to see the school texts she knew, along with some reference books she had used before. Most of the books were the dull colors all magical ones were, but a bookcase, the one almost in front of her, was mostly covered in colorful books, some thin, some thick, but clearly different at what she was used to.

Luna smiled. This place was so unique that it was _certainly_ not a Common Room. Or so she hoped, because if it was, then they were in deep trouble.

"Sorry I took so long." Hermione suddenly appeared before her, carrying a tray with a full tea service set. "I almost thought I was out of chocolate."

The blonde perked at that word. Everybody loved chocolate. She looked almost impatiently how the armchair was transformed silently into a low table and moved between the fire heart and the blonde. The brunette set the tray on it and started pouring the hot beverage. Passing the only half-full cup to Luna she warned softly. "It's quiet hot, drink it slowly."

The younger witch nodded and sipped carefully. It was sweet, but not as sweet as the chocolate she was used to drink. It was also not as creamy as she was used to too, but it was pleasantly helping with the dry mouth she had not noticed she had. Much to her regret, the savor only lasted a second. She frowned slightly, it was indeed hot, and she had just effectively burned her tongue. She stuck it out, trying to see where she was hurt.

The brunette looked at the girl sitting almost thigh to thigh with her while sipping her own cup. The blonde was cuter up close than she remembered and she could not help but chuckle when the girl crossed her eyes trying to see her poking pink tongue. The sound made Luna look at her, her ever so little red eyes widening and her little tongue quickly retreating. Apparently the girl was big on tears this night, because her eyes started gathering water and her pitiful whimper tore at the older student's heart as she realize why she was trying to see her tasting muscle.

"Oh, Luna." She sighed, not entirely sure where she had skipped formalities and started calling her by her first name. Setting her cup down, she reached for the younger girl's and did the same to hers. Once both her hands were free she took the blonde's chin gently and forced her to face her. "Let me see it."

It was a soft order and Luna did not doubt in opening her mouth and let the older girl see the damage the hot chocolate had done. It only took a couple of seconds before she felt something like a small breeze and a cooling sensation that spread around her entire mouth. The pain disappeared instantly.

"There. That shall do it." Hermione murmured, yet her hand did not release her. "Feel better?"

"Hmmm." Luna hummed contently, feeling her healed mouth. "Thank you."

The brunette smiled gently, wondering what she was doing with a virtual stranger and acting so comfortable with her. She hated the haunted eyes that stare back at her, and she dreaded to think exactly why the young Claw was out of bed. Yet she smiled. It was now nearing one o'clock and Luna had finally spoken something understandable to her, at least other than pleads of despair. "You are very welcome." Hermione took Luna's cup again and cooled it with a gently wave of her hand, instantly missing the feel of Luna's soft skin on her fingers. She gave her the now warm chocolate. "Here, it's only barely hot now, you should be able to drink it."

Luna beamed at that. She quickly took the tasty sweet and started sipping contently. "Nargles are nice and their touch is soft!"

Hermione blushed. She now understood that she had been labeled a Nargle, whatever that meant, and she was ashamed to admit that Luna's innocent comment was the nicest thing she had been told in a while. "And Wrackspurts are cute and cuddly." She teased back.

That made the little girl blush as well, effectively making her forget why she was sitting with a witch three years her senior in a room she still did not know what propose had.

XxXxX

Sirius sighed. It was almost Christmas and he was yet to be free to do as he pleased. Sure, he was no longer a fugitive, nor a convict, but he had gained his old Auror job after Voldemort's defeat and he was busy as ever.

The bloody snake face had only summoned a handful of his followers when he had decided to attack Hogwarts at the end of last term, so there were still a huge bunch of Death Eaters roaming around free. It had been labeled as his job to hunt for them then.

He was almost to the end of the long list Wormtail had given them when he was captured, in exchange of his pathetic life, but he had vowed not to stop up until all the pureblood fanatics were put in Azkaban. It was just bad that he had to spend the holidays away from Harry, who was now under his legal guardianship, but the boy understood and was more than happy to be at Hogwarts for the mini vacation.

"Uncle?" A soft voice called to him and pulled him from his thoughts. He turned to see a lean pink haired girl looking at him expectantly. "Are you ready to go?"

Sirius sighed again, he was so tired. Groaning from effort the man got up from his place in front the fireplace at the Auror's Headquarters. "Yeah, Tonks, let's go find McNair."

XxXxX

**So I guess this is where the plot starts thickening a little bit more, uh?**

**Please tell me what you think!**

**Oh, and I finally got around to get myself sorted at Pottermore a few weeks ago... let's just say the results were a HUGE shock to my system. My mom laughed so hard she almost cried, although she did gift me with a Slytherin necklace to 'honor' my House today, so... yeah at least I have that. **

**Leave a review if you will, please?**


	4. No-Man's-Land

**A/N:** For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.

However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure, well more than sort of…

I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.

"Speak."

_'Thoughts.'_

Warnings: Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits, Consumption of Elven Leaves, OOC, Overall Wizarding Stupidity, Use of Barely-Legal-by-Wizards-Standards Narcotics.

**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I just simply play with them and give them back at the end of the day.**

* * *

**Chapter Four – No-Man's-Land**

The air was toasty and warm enough for her to feel comfortable in her see-through camisole, yet she could not help but burrow into the soft and silky sheets. She sighed. This was the most comfortable she had been in a really long time. She scooted closer to the place her source of warmth was, only to find it gone. She frowned. That would not do.

Luna opened her eyes tiredly and blinked. The room she was in was not her room. Not at all. There were no blue canopies, nor a bronze comforter that covered her pale blue cotton sheets. No. The bed she was resting on had no tall post nor curtains. It was bigger than her twin sized one, and both the sheets and comforter were a soft lilac with deep purple little flowers.

The little Claw blinked again. There were no other beds in the somewhat big room, just a big wardrobe, a full size mirror and a beautiful dressing table, filled with bottles of all colors and shapes. The air smelt of roosted apples and cinnamon, something that immediately made her think of her mother, as it had been the smell that had always lingered in their house on chilly days. In the little fireplace, smaller than any other she could remember, hot ambers were still giving the room the needed heat to bear the December's cold days.

Frowning she looked at the empty space on the bed. Something warm had been resting there not so long ago, something warm enough that had kept her happily safe in Morpheus' Land. Slowly she got up, careful of stepping out of bed with her right foot, a foot that was instantly chilled in the carpeted, yet cold, floor. Once the covers were totally off her the rest of her body chilled as well. Looking around she spotted a thick nightgown and a pair of slippers in a matching mauve tone, and, without thinking, she instantly put them on.

She was not sure where she was, or why she was there, but there was only one door and that surely was the only way out. With a small knot in her stomach, out of hunger or apprehension she did not know, she took the handle and stepped outside.

XxXxX

"I don't understand. It's unfair."

The older woman sighed. "Miss Lovegood is a special case, Hermione. Not many really like her."

Hermione frowned. That was certainly true, she was not aware of any student that actively sought Luna, or that really talked to her, only about her. The Professors were of similar matter, only Professor McGonagall, who she was currently entertaining in her small living room, was nice to the girl. But there was just so much the Headmistress could do to help her.

"I know that." The brunette huffed and crossed her arms, yet she did not search the older woman's eyes. She knew the feeling that would cause her. "What I don't understand is the why." She was mad at the people in the school, of their pettiness and their lack of common sense.

The Headmistress smiled softly at who she considered her favorite student, marveling at how the stoic girl was being so moved by a tiny Claw. Hearing that the fifth year Prefect had actually gone to bed at around four in the morning _talking_ with someone was quite a shock. In the last year or so Hermione Granger was often by herself, only occasionally talking with her friends Mister Potter and Mister Weasley. The Triwizard Tournament had effectively distanced Gryffindor's Golden Trio and Ron and Harry had taken great offense in Hermione when she refused to celebrate with them the _joy_ of being chosen to compete. Never mind that Harry Potter was underage, or that his magic ability was not at par with the rest to the Champions, or that he was simply so unfocused his life was in danger even without trying. No. They were upset because she was worried for her friend and that made her an enemy for the two proud Gryffindors.

"Me neither." Confessed the older witch. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid I'll make things worse if I intercede for her."

"Why?" Hermione blushed as she heard herself. She had not just whined… she had simply asked an intelligent question in a high pitched voice.

"The same reason I didn't send you home." She answered calmly.

Minerva McGonagall could still remember the little first year girl that had come to see her no long before her first Halloween Feast, asking to be sent home. Young Hermione was tired of always learning her magic and being teased because of it. She was hurt, out of her element, far away from home and in a place she was mostly hated. It had taken her then Head of House hours to calm her and made her understand that things would be better, that she would be making friends soon enough and that she needed to learn and grow in the world she was now part of.

It was hard, true, but Hogwarts was not only a place to learn magic, but a place where the children learnt the necessary skills to survive in the adult world. No child in the school left without learning something, be it academically or socially, and that was the reason why House Unity was so enforced. There were always pariahs, but in McGonagall's experience, those pariahs were always the best Wizards and Witches that ever graced Earth.

Hermione had understood her Professor's reasoning and had tried to be the better person. It had worked well up until the day Harry became Hogwarts' Champion. After that she had simply realized that she truly did not need to be accepted by her peers. They were no longer mean and they finally understood she was the most brilliant witch in the _century_, so she was let alone and she was fine with it.

"Still," The young brunette said. "There is got to be something we could do. Something _I_ could do."

McGonagall nodded. She was about to speak when the door that led to the bedroom opened slowly. Both women turned and see a little blonde head peeking out, nervous blue eyes searching for some form of comfort and recognition.

"Good afternoon, Miss Lovegood." The Headmistress spoke softly, trying not to scare the skittish Ravenclaw.

Luna's already pale complexion whitened more. In a flash what had happened to her the previous night came rushing to the front of her mind. How she had been found by her Head of House, how Hermione had given her her cloak, how she had burnt her tongue with hot chocolate, how she had fallen asleep resting her head onto the brunette's comfy shoulder.

Sheer will force stopped her from bursting into tears at seeing their Headmistress sitting in the armchair that had been such a lovely low table the night before. She liked Hermione, and now here she was, the highest authority in school, ready to deliver punishment. It didn't crossed her mind that said authority was nursing a hot cup of tea, siting in robes way too casual for her, nor that the Gryffindor Prefect was still in her pajamas, her hair tussled and with a half-eaten sandwich in her hand.

Luna's head bowed. "Sorry."

Hermione flinched. There it was that voice again, the same one that had broken her heart when she hear it in the South Hallway the night before. It bothered her that she still did not know why the Claw has been out of bed so late at night. No matter how much she pushed, the girl simply would not say. Still, that voice, that scarred sound, made her heart bleed and she vowed silently to do everything in her power to ensure Luna would never, ever, sound like that again.

"What are you sorry for, child?" Minerva asked truly confused. She had only greeted her!

Luna looked panicked to Hermione, then back to the oldest witch. Surely it was now too late to try and spare Hermione of any punishment, but perhaps she could convince the Headmistress that she could do both of their detentions. Maybe she would be stuck with Hagrid, he was a nice man, soft and funny. Yes, maybe she would be lucky enough to serve detention with him.

The Gryffindor looked at Luna and it took her a second to understand why she was apologizing. Before Luna could answer McGonagall, she did. "Luna here thinks that we'll be in trouble because she's a Claw and I'm a Cub, and going to each other Houses is against the rules."

Minerva frowned. The blonde girl was intelligent, not many know of that particular rule, not even most of the Prefects did. It was not a rule that was frequently broken, though, House rivalry helped to enforce it, and inter-House dating was rare, and the actual couples from different Houses preferred developing their relationships out of them. So there was not real need to know a rule that was not easily enforced. "And surely you've told Miss Lovegood that your chambers are basically No-Man's-Land?"

Hermione blushed. She knew she had missed something last night. She had been so occupied comforting the blonde and distracting her that she had forgotten to explain her current living arrangements. "Er…"

The Headmistress simply shook her head, fully knowing her star pupil was prone to forget the smallest details. She was good at puzzles and riddles, but she was sometimes as dense as a first year Hufflepuff. She turned to the youngest girl. "Miss Lovegood," she said softly, trying to convey a safe feeling to the girl. "This is no the Gryffindor House. You are not in trouble." She motioned at the seat next to Hermione. "Please come sit with us."

Luna eyed them, not entirely sure to know what to expect. Yet she was cold, even though there was a nice fire going and the nightgown was warm, so she simply followed the command and sat pressed to the older teen, trying to rob her of her body heat. She was promptly presented with a sandwich from a small bag that rested in Hermione's lap. Her tummy rumbled and she blushed, silently accepting the more than wanted food.

"Sorry about that, I kinda forgot to tell you." Hermione took a bite from her chicken salad sandwich as Luna sniffed at hers, looking at her curiously.

"All the houses allow their best students their own chambers as a reward for their efforts and great marks. They have to be the best for two years in a row to be considered for this privilege, though." McGonagall supplied, seeing that the brunette had no intention of explaining the situation. "Hermione is the best student in her house. She had been for the last four years. As such, she was given the choice to have her own quarters in her third year, but only accepted last year."

Hermione swallowed and shrugged. "I thought the full on House experience and shared dormitories would do me more good than my own rooms, where I surely would end occupying all the space with homework and clothes." She did not mention that she also feared that having such a privilege would make the displeasure in her Housemates grow and alienate her further form them. She was now as alienated as she could possibly be, so it did not matter anymore. And not having to share sure made living in the castle for nine months more comfortable.

The Headmistress rolled her eyes, knowing full well the reason why the brunette had declined the first time. She turned to Luna. "As she doesn't live in Gryffindor Rooms, you two are not violating any rule. So don't worry."

Luna nodded, relieved that she had not gotten the older girl in trouble. She was grateful for the comfort she had been given, and she knew it was not a nice way to pay to have the other girl punished. "Thank you." She said softly, thought the other women were not sure if she was thankful of the knowledge or the food.

Minerva smiled. "You are very welcome."

That stirred something in Luna and she decided that she was calm enough to try and eat. Gingerly she bit her sandwich, only to wince as pain sprout in her tongue. She took the food out, not having really tearing the piece from it, and pouted.

Hermione cursed silently. Putting her own sandwich down, she gently cupped Luna's chin, just as she had done the night before. "Show me." She requested softly.

The blonde didn't hesitated and opened her mouth, she loved the way she was pampered by the woman she thought was truly the smarter witch of all times. She did not need to talk much for her to understand what was running through her head, and she understood when she actually talked. It did not take long before the same cooling effect she had previously experimented returned, chasing the pain away.

"Better?" The brunette asked her.

Luna nodded and leaned forward, gently resting her forehead just above the older girl's breast. She was both silently thanking her and asking her for a little more pampering, not caring on the interested stare they were receiving from their Headmistress.

XxXxX

**A/N: Are you liking this? I'm not sure if you do or if my writing is not as good as it should, but I guess I'm just a little disappointed that I have almost none recognition to this story... that hadn't happened to me before. I won't ask for a certain number of reviews, nor I will stop writing this, but I'm really curious to know why you don't like (or like) the story. **

**I've already written up until chapter 22, all of them more or less the same length as the ones I've been posting, and I know I'm no where near done, so your input would be appreciated, as I could start changing things you don't like now rather than later. **

**Sorry for the long rant and thanks for reading.**

**~Charis-chan~**


	5. Sniffles

**A/N:** For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.

However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure, well more than sort of…

I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.

"Speak."

_'Thoughts.'_

Warnings: Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits, Consumption of Elven Leaves, OOC, Overall Wizarding Stupidity, Plans of Revenge.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I just simply play with them and give them back at the end of the day… though I'd like a chibbi Luna…

**Chapter Five - Sniffles**

Minerva watched as Hermione gently prided Luna's moth open and a few seconds later blew softly into it, making the slight face of pain in the younger girl go away. She smiled. That particular trick had been learned from the Headmistress' personal library, and after the first time Hermione had managed to do it, it had been one of her most used little quirks that made the older woman smile.

Not many had the ability to use that kind of powers, but the brunette could and she had spent several weeks learning to control the power she had had since birth. It had taken Minerva hours of studying to help the witch, as the Headmistress herself was not able to perform that magic, but the girl had gotten brilliant at using her gift.

The old woman saw interested as her young brunette smiled softly and run her unused hand thought almost tangle-free flaxen hair. She had never seen the Gryffindor so at ease with another human being. The oldest witch was her friend, she had been since that moment she had wanted out from the wizarding world in the girl's first year, and she was sure she had never seen Hermione so comfortable with, well, anybody.

The Transfiguration Mistress knew the brunette quite well, she knew of her quirks and her desires. She understood her need to learn anything and everything and why her classmates could easily annoy her. She could understand the reasons why the younger witch was prone to lose her patience, but also the reasons why she desired to fit in. Being normal and accepted was the now called Morgen most desired wish. But she was too different to do so.

Hermione was a strange creature, she did not trust easily and she was always plotting something. She had the habit of thinking before acting, something totally opposite to what her House professed, even though she sometimes decided to act against her best judgment. She stopped and thought of what was going to exit her lips, not wanting her words to be twisted into something offensive or creating misunderstandings. She was totally different of what the average wizard, or witch, was, and that made the rest of Hogwarts' students uncomfortable.

But she was sweet little thing once one got to know her. She was considerate and always putting her friends before herself, something Mister Weasley had abused up until their fourth year. She wanted everyone to succeed in her dreams, hoping that that could make her own dreams come true, but it was simply not meant to happen.

Still, Minerva was proud to be considered her friend. The young Prefect had permission to call the Headmistress by her given name when they were in private, and she had spent last summer at her Manor learning magic she could not have come across otherwise. Hermione had blossomed in the months after Voldemort's defeat, her already strong magic had leaped when she had helped kill the bastard. While fourth year Hermione could easily do wandless magic, her power had been too raw to actually control it, and more often than not trying to cast silent spells with her bare hands had ended with her in a hospital bed and with a slight concussion.

Everything changed when she had casted an unknown curse to Voldemort roughly six months back, permitting Harry Potter to finish the Dark Lord. The joyous day had been celebrated for a month afterwards, all the wizarding world had been in high spirits since then, but she did not celebrate with them. Something had changed the young brunette, but at least not as it had changed Mister Potter and Mister Weasley, the former who had grown to be a respectable an humble young man and the latter who was now an airheaded boy with a grandeur complex. She was still as mature as she had been, and as lonely as she had been, but she had taken it a step further, retreating from the world she once knew, the Muggle world.

The Headmistress heart swelled at knowing that Hermione Granger preferred her company at those of her parents. She did not know the reason why her young friend had asked to stay the summer after Voldemort's death with her, but she knew that her parents' lose was certainly her gain. She had tried to ask, of course, but the girl would not answer her questioning.

"Come on, Luna, eat something." Hermione's soft prodding took the old witch from her thoughts. She looked as the younger girl gingerly took a bite of her food, but did not part far from what she now considered her personal furnace. The brunette simply smiled, eating her own food and hugging the shorter girl by the shoulders with her free arm.

The trio fell in a comfortable silence, all the while Minerva looked at the two girls before her. She knew she had not helped the young Claw because she was hoping the girl could do as Hermione and learn to adapt in her new home and environment. And she was ashamed to admit that she had somehow forgotten about her ever since she was forced in Albus' position just after the Goblet of Fire had selected the four Champions.

The Ministry, along with Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff, had demanded that the 'responsible' of having two Hogwarts champions was punished. Albus had been the one to be blamed, so he had to resign and the school administration had fallen onto her shoulders. With all the added work, and the pressure to have her two students survive the Tournament, Luna Lovegood had effectively been delegated to the very back of her mind.

"Miss Lovegood." She said softly when it was evident the girl had finished eating, even though there was still little more than half sandwich in her hand. "Hermione had told me what happened last night." Said witch winced at how Luna stiffened. "Could you tell me what you were doing out that late?" She did not mention how she was dressed, or how she had been confronted by Filius, she just needed to know what happened to the little blonde.

Luna swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. She was happy for once, her side was pressed firmly into a constant source of heat, and the arm around her shoulders fell divine, but she knew that all good things come to an end. Yet, she remembered that she was not allowed to say why she had been kicked out of Ravenclaw, even if it was the Headmistress was the one asking.

"Luna," Hermione murmured softly. "Please answer her."

The blonde shook her head. She had no intention of telling them how she was teased and bullied in what was supposed to be her safe haven in school.

"Please, Luna." McGonagall decided it was no harm referring her as she did Hermione. "Tell us what happened. Did someone hurt you?"

The Claw blinked at being call like that from a woman that the rumors made a complete hag. Minerva McGonagall was a stern woman who did not like it when people broke the rules, and she was more than happy to ensure that the school was well monitored and all transgressions punished. All the talk she had heard about their Headmistress referred to her as someone to avoid and try to please when avoiding her was impossible. Never had it occurred to Luna that maybe they were all lies, because the woman who was calling her by her given name was warm and kind.

She shook her head with more vigor as tears started falling. McGonagall could be God himself and she would not been rattling her Housemates. They were scary and she knew firsthand that they were nasty and liked to find excuses to hurt her. She liked Minerva, but she feared the Ravenclaws more.

"Ma-Min," Hermione started, not caring that the blonde found out her familiarity with the older witch odd, or improper… or the almost slip she had made. "Maybe we should forget about it?" She hated to ask that, but she could understand how hard was to tell people when one was miserable. It took the brunette little more than year to completely open up to the oldest witch, and she was still hiding secrets for her. She knew it would take more time than that to open Luna up, at least half way.

The Headmistress sighed, knowing her young friend was right. "Fine." She conceded, but decided Filius was in for a visit soon. "There had been a heavy snowfall yesterday night and early this morning." She commented as if she had just arrived and was informing a class of some important fact. "We are asking the students to stay indoors until it's time to take the Express back to London tomorrow afternoon. Also, something happened to the warming charms that protected the school from the cold, we suspect it was so windy that the charmed stones fell out of place. Please see that you two are warm until we fix that problem and don't go wandering around the castle, is freezing out there."

Hermione smiled her gratitude at the older witch, only slightly dampened by the guilt she always felt around the older witch. "I'll take care of that." She turned to Luna, whose tears were still running, but shown no signs of distress. "Would you like to spend the day with me? We can do our homework and chat." She smirked and tapped the other girl's nose. "I can even make you some more hot chocolate."

Luna smiled shyly and nodded. The brunette did not have to offer her chocolate to convince her to join her. She would spend time with her in a heartbeat any day, or night. The promise of hot deliciousness was just a bonus.

Minerva mentally snorted amused at the duo. Only a hurt blonde girl could made Hermione act playful and closer to her age. She was glad Luna could befriend her, as both dearly needed a friend, she just hoped it would have been under better circumstances. "Well, ladies." She said after she vanished her finished cup and getting up from the most comfortable armchair she had ever come across. "I shall be going, as I need to do some paper work before tonight."

Hermione nodded. "We'll see you at lunch."

The Headmistress laughed, shocking little Luna. "My dear Hermione, lunch was over about two hours ago."

The brunette blinked owlish at that, before blushing. At her side the blonde giggled. "I guess we slept longer than I realized." She sighed. "That's explain the sandwiches. Thank you for getting us food, though." She motioned at the paper bag still in her lap.

The oldest witch nodded in acknowledgement. "Lunch was a cold affair, I'm afraid. The Great Hall resembled the North Pole and many left sniffing and coughing after eating. As such, dinner will be served in the Common Rooms, I'll make sure a house elf bring you both some." She frowned. "That reminds me. Sniffles?"

Luna was confused for a whole second before a quiet pop told her what had happened. A small house elf stood before them, wearing a small red sweater and long socks. It appeared that even the little creatures were being affected by the cold. "You called, Mistress?"

"Yes, little one. Could you please bring some warm clothes for Luna here? And some spare blankets?" Hermione smiled a little at the thoughtfulness of the oldest witch. She still hated how wizards treated their house elves, but she had come to know Sniffles and she had understood that not all masters were bad, just that they were not a majority. Sniffles was Minerva's personal elf and she was a darling little thing, always eager to sneak Hermione forbidden sweets and books from the Restricted Section.

"Yes, Mistress." The elf popped out the room and a couple of seconds later was back with an armful of clothes, from dresses to sweaters and the blankets requested. She put them in the recently unoccupied armchair. "Sniffles is needed more? A book? A sweet?" She asked the room, knowing her brunette mistress sometimes liked to ask for things herself when she was around.

Hermione paled when Minerva eyed her suspiciously, fully aware what kind of books Sniffles gave her. "Er," She coughed, softly. "Could you also please bring Luna's school things?"

"Yes, Miss Neenie." Sniffles bowed and the things asked where placed in the table with a quick snap of her fingers.

"Thank you, Sniffles, you rock!" The elf blushed at her young mistress gratitude, still not used to be treated with respect from other than her main Mistress. With a pop she vanished, leaving the other three to smile to where the embarrassed little thing had been.

"I shall be gone, then." Minerva said, turning to where the exit was, only to be stopped by a tiny voice.

"Thank you, Headmistress."

It was soft, and sounded scratchy, as if it was not used often. The oldest witch smiled to Luna with her back still to her. "Please call me Minerva." She asked equally softly. She opened the portrait and looked back once just before disappearing. "And you are very welcome, dear."

XxXxX

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and favorites and follows, it helps me realize that you are liking this story as I'm liking writing it. As I've said before, I already are writing chapter 25, so if you'd like to see something, or if you'd like to change anything, please tell me so I can play with it since now.**

**Thank you all, and please leave a review if you'd like :D**


	6. Staff's Meeting

**A/N:** For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.

However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure, well more than sort of…

I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.

"Speak."

_'Thoughts.'_

Warnings: Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits, Consumption of Elven Leaves, OOC, Overall Wizarding Stupidity, Plans of Revenge.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I just simply play with them and give them back at the end of the day… though I'd like a chibbi Mione…

* * *

**Chapter Six – Staff's Meeting**

Hermione looked at the girl that was impersonating a small fish, with her mouth opening and closing, truly perplexed at what their Headmistress had called her. The brunette smiled, knowing firsthand how scary was to discover the woman beneath the stern Professor.

"You okay, Luna?" She snickered.

The blonde blinked owlish, not sure if what she had just seen was true. Had her Headmistress just called her dear? "Yes." She mumbled. "Are the Kneazle always so nice?" She asked a little louder.

It was Hermione's turn to blink. She had understood she was a Nargle, Luna was a Wrackspurt, so that made Minerva a Kneazle? "Yes, she is. She likes me to visit her after breakfast on Saturdays."

The blonde frowned, the half-eaten sandwich fell onto her lap. She had not wanted to intrude in what looked as a tradition between the two older witches. She had not meant to sleep so late into the evening preventing the Headmistress and Hermione to have their weekly meeting. "Luna is sorry."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, for both the meaning and the way she phrased that statement. "What for?"

"Nargles and Kneazles like to play. Wrackspurts shan't interfere."

The older girl simply smiled sadly. She took the sandwich from it place in the blonde's lap and vanished it, along with all the crumbles it had made. "Minerva won't ever be offended if I can't follow our usual schedule. Especially if there's something important I have to do."

Luna nodded, not really understanding what Hermione was saying, but knowing that the girl was trying to make her feel better.

The brunette knew the younger girl was not convinced. "She knows that you needed me." She refused to talk like Luna, fully aware that the girl _did_ understand her. "She knows what happened last night and was angry at how Professor Flitwick acted. She knew we hadn't eaten since yesterday, because she didn't saw us at breakfast _and_ lunch. She was happy to bring us the sandwiches and to chat even when it was not at the usual time."

"Kneazles are nice to Wrackspurts." She eyed the older girl, wondering for a second how the Headmistress could have known of things that had happened just a night ago, before simply accepting that being Headmistress had its own especial powers. "As are Nargles."

Hermione chuckled. "Yes we are." Standing up, she stretched and groaned in satisfaction when her back popped. "I hope you don't mind if we do a little homework before dinner. I only have two essays left, and if you wish I can help with anything you'd like."

Luna titled her head to the right, her eyes never leaving the way Hermione chest pulled when stretched, nor the small bounce they did when they were back into place. Homework? She had heard that word plenty of times before, but she was not sure exactly what it meant.

XxXxX

"Thank you all for coming in such a short notice." The old witch entered her office were all the Professors she had asked were gathered around a small table.

"Yes well, it's not like we had the option not to come." Severus Snape drawled, truly annoyed at the interruption of one of his student-free days. Weekend days were sacred among the Staff, especially the ones were they were not on duty, such as this fine Saturday in which the Head of Slytherin was not forced to look after stupid dunderheads.

Minerva sat at the end of the table, not taking the bait she was offered. It would be in everybody's interests that she ignored the dumb Potion Master.

"Why have you call us, Headmistress?" Pomona Sprout asked, it was not common of Minerva to ask for most of the staff to gather, she usually spoke to each of them personally, or in smaller groups.

"Luna Lovegood." The stern witch answered simply, only to frown slightly when most of the gathered stifled laughs.

"Oh, Headmistress," Professor Aurora Sinistra was the first to actually laugh. "She doesn't merit such a formal meeting."

Snape scoffed. "As much as agreeing with Miss Sinistra pains me, she is quite right. The girl is a lost cause and should be expelled at once."

"Now, now, Severus," Professor Lupin objected carefully. "She may not be the most meticulous student we've ever had, but she is a good kid."

The Potion teacher growled. "Meticulous, you say? The girl never turns in homework, she doesn't answer questions, not by her own will nor when asked directly. Her exams are written in the worst handwriting I've ever seen and she's always daydreaming in class. She is a far cry from a _reckless_ student. I believe there is no word to describe her degree of incompetence."

The Headmistress was shocked at that, though the only external sign of that was her rapid blinking. _'How could this girl pass her classes if she never does her homework?!'_

Professor Flitwick nodded. "She is indeed a poor excuse of a Ravenclaw. She never does as told and she's more often than not distracting her peers with her strange behavior."

"That may be true," Remus scowled his colleague, wondering why the tiny man was not defending the girl. "But she had the best exam in her class last year."

Pomona nodded, not really interested. "Same in my class, she was the best in the final exam, though the worst in every class."

Snape sneered. "Her score in mine was almost perfect, but that doesn't make her a good student, and I'm sure most of us would like her gone. She's only wasting space and resources."

Minerva quirked an eyebrow at that information. She turned to rest of the assembled. "What about your exams, was she good?"

"She had a score of 112 in mine." Filius confessed.

"I have never seen better charted stars." Aurora conceded.

"She was the only one able to transform hale into thread." Professor Tamsin Greenwood, the new Transfiguration teacher, said easily, not seeing anything wrong if the girl lacked in what was considered normal student's habits. The girl was bright and she showed them that with her magic and her not so shared knowledge. Still, she was the newest employee in the castle and she knew her input could be ill accepted.

Minerva nodded, kind of happy with that answers. Binns was not present, but that teacher opinion was not really needed, as the old ghost surely was not aware he was teaching a girl called Luna Lovegood, yet she was more than confident that the girl's results on that subject where also favorable. It did explain how the girl have passed her classes, though. Homework was only worth a forty percent of the final grade, so with a forty-sixty kind of evaluation the girl only needed to excel in her exams in order to pass the class.

"Still," Snape snapped. "The girl is destined to failure."

McGonagall smirked. "Do you know who her mother was, Severus?"

The Potion Master chuckled humorlessly. "I'm sure the stupid witch was as stupid as her dumb daughter."

The Headmistress' fists clenched, having to restrain herself not to slap the bastard silly. No wonder all the students demanded of a new Potion Teacher, and she agreed… she was just still looking for a fit replacement. Snape was, after all, the best Potion Master in all England. "Miss Lovegood's mother was Selene Lovegood, though many knew her by her maiden, and public, name: Nightingale."

Severus Snape paled. He knew that name perfectly. Selene Nightingale was the woman he apprenticed under, she was the one that had taught him in the arts of Potion Making, the witch that had made him understand that potions were almost lining things, meant to be cared and cherished. She was the one that had held the position of the best Potion Master before him, the title had been passed down and he was given it. The day she died.

The man had mourned her for a month, as the wizarding community had lost a great Master and him a friend.

The Slytherin swallowed, not really sure when his trough dried and looked at the headmistress. "You are joking, Selene had no kids." There was no way that such a strange girl had been born from such a magnificent brewer; besides, the older witch would surely inform him if she had a baby.

"I kid you not, Severus. Luna was born shortly after you gained your Mastership." There was just a hint of pleasure in having the man so perplexed. "Luna's mother was your teacher, one of the reasons I'm sure she excels at your class when many others fail miserably."

The nasty man simply frowned, not entirely happy at the jab his teaching methods were given, but before he could defend himself, he was interrupted by Professor Greenwood.

"She is rather smart," She said softly, knowing full well her opinion could not be welcomed. "She understands everything at the first try and is able to do more than the rest of her class." A pause. "I believe her only problem is that she doesn't know how to be a normal student."

The Ravenclaw Head of House frowned. "She is a strange girl, she doesn't follow the rules and is always lost to the world, no matter how good her magic is, sh-" He was swiftly interrupted by his boss.

"Are you lot telling me that her only problem is that she doesn't know how to be a student?" She asked her substitute, echoing the tiny man's frown. She had thought the girl was actively trying to upset the teachers, she had not considered that maybe there was a real problem with the girl.

"Yes, Headmistress." The rather young woman answered truthfully. "She doesn't take notes, and I highly suspect that the girl never really learnt the concept of what is homework. If she is presented with written work in class she is easily distracted, and her penmanship is awful, but if she is tested she aces every question."

Pomona chuckled. "She is not fit for school. The girl talks rubbish, if she is asked a question and she actually answer, she only talks about strange creatures I highly suspects she invents."

The newest teacher frowned. "And I highly suspect that is the result of all teasing she is subject to."

"She is molested constantly." Remus added. How he wished the girl had not been sorted in Ravenclaw, that way he could have look after her, but then again, he was Gryffindor's Head of House, he could not meddle with students from other houses.

Filius rose an eyebrow. "The girl should be sent home. She is teased because she is really too wild to be here."

Minerva scowled. She could easily see how the teachers were divided, those that did not care for the girl, and those that actually wanted to help but found themselves with their hands tied. Tamsin was too new to actually have a say in the matter, and Remus had been back only a term and did not know exactly how to proceed with a girl he was not familiar with. She turn to the rest of the staff, the ones that she could see were very biased. "Luna Lovegood is not leaving school. I'll make sure the girl has help and learns what is expected from her."

"Good luck with that." Snape sneered, he had not taken well the news about the mother's girl. He stood up and marched to the exit. "I have better things to do than to discuss a lost cause. I shall be in my rooms the rest of the holiday. Good day."

The Headmistress simply shook her head. "Pomona, Sinistra, you may go, too." She said resigned, knowing full well that once the Potion Master leaves a reunion is was time to finish it as the rest of the teachers would want to follow soon.

The two witches promptly followed her instructions, leaving behind the other three teachers.

"Filius," The older woman started. "I wish to remove Miss Lovegood from the Ravenclaw's dormitories." She told him without preamble, wanting to finish this as soon as possible. Fortunately she had completed her paperwork for the month and the preparations for the very few students that were staying on Christmas. Which, in fact, were only Harry and Hermione. Apparently the fall of the Dark Lord had prompted the families to celebrate this year together.

"I don't see why, Minerva." The little man said utterly perplexed, especially if the Headmistress insisted in leaving the girl at school.

"I don't like that Miss Lovegood was out of her dormitory so late at night and with clothes that barely covered her. I've looked over her file and she's been losing points for wandering around late at night almost once a week since she started Hogwarts." She frowned, somehow relieved that the magical records every kid had updated every time they were punished or rewarded immediately. "Don't you think there's something suspicious there? I went to Ravenclaw Tower, the doorknob was tampered to stop Miss Lovegood to enter. It said so itself."

The tiny man shrugged, while the other two teachers stiffened. They were the ones that had left Hogwarts not so long ago, they could remember the relatively new pranks made to students were they were banned to enter their Common Rooms… it had taken the students several generations to actually be able to prohibit the entrance to some or other student, and it was mostly the hated one that was banned from the house time to time.

Remus had been banned once, and it was something he remembered like an adventure, but he certainly did not think that it was a good experience, especially if the person was banned as often as Miss Lovegood seemed to be.

"I guess the girl did something for the entrance to shut. She may be not able to answer the riddles." The Ravenclaw simply said.

Minerva saw red. Ravenclaws were supposed to be intelligent and smart, not this poor excuse of a wizard. But, she had been around long enough to know how to treat stupid men. "Regardless, Filius, I want her out. She doesn't belong in your House."

The short man nodded. That was true enough. "I think you are right, she is not Claw material. Please take her were you think she belongs."

The angry Headmistress nodded. "Thank you, Filius; that would be all." She dismissed the man, truly disgusted at how he was so set that the girl was not a Ravenclaw and that he was not going to do anything to help her.

"Good day, Minerva." The man left, with a spring in his step. Who would have guessed that his Christmas gift was to be delivered that early? He had practically gotten rid of Miss Lovegood and her well-being was no longer his concern.

"What?" The shocked Transfiguration teacher muttered. She had by any means as much responsibilities as the rest of the staff, and she did not know exactly what everybody did, but she was fairly certain that a Head of House was in charge of their students' happiness and safety.

Minerva looked at the young teacher. Tamsin Greenwood had apprenticed under her own teacher, Fizpatrick Callaghan and she was a fine witch with a talent for Transfigurations. She had gained her Mastery only six years after leaving Hogwarts, which made her twenty-eight, and truly the youngest person in staff. "Miss Greenwood." She smiled when the witch flinched, apparently she still remembered when she was a student at the school.

"Yes, Headmistress?"

"I'd like to enlist you, and you too Remus, to help me help Miss Lovegood."

XxXxX

**A/N: Thank you for you support and your favorites.**


	7. Mourn

**A/N:** For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.

However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure, well more than sort of…

I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.

"Speak."

_'Thoughts.'_

**Warnings:** Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits, Consumption of Elven Leaves, OOC, Overall Wizarding Stupidity, Plans of Revenge.

**Special Warning: **In this chapter there is a little too much OOC and a little regression... just saying, don't read if you're easily offended.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I only have a Slytherin necklace and a Hogwarts' wristband…

* * *

**Chapter Seven - Mourn**

"_-'Hush!' said the Cabby._"

The old witch smiled at the sight that welcomed her.

_"They all listened. In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction it was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. There was hardly even a tune. But it was, beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it. The horse seemed to like it too; he gave the sort of whinney a horse would give if, after years of being a cab-horse, it found itself back in the old field where it had played as a foal, and saw someone whom it remembered and loved coming across the field to bring it a lump of sugar._"

The youngest girl was curled into a tight ball on the sofa. Her blonde head rested softly on one of the brunette's thighs, her locks sprawled all over her lap with her face turned towards the older girl's stomach. Her chest rose and fell lightly.

"_'Gawd!' said the Cabby. 'Ain't it lovely?'_"

The fifth-year witch's free hand was combing through the flaxen head, gently untangling it. The other hand, the non-dominant one, was holding the small book from where she was reading out loud, making sure that it did not bothered the resting girl in her lap.

_"Then two wonders happened at the same moment. One was that the voice was suddenly joined by other voices; more voices than you could possibly count. They were in harmony with it, but far higher up the scale: cold, tingling, silvery voices. The second wonder was that the blackness overhead, all at once, was blazing with stars. They didn't come out gently one by one, as they do on a summer evening. One moment there had been nothing but darkness; next moment a thousand, thousand points of light leaped out—single stars, constellations, and planets, brighter and bigger than any in our world. There were no clouds. The new stars and the new voices began at exactly the same time. If you had seen and heard it, as Digory did, you could have felt quite certain that it was the stars themselves which were singing, and that it was the First Voice, the deep one, which-_"

Hermione stopped reading when she finally sensed someone watching her. Lowering her book she peeked from above it, reddening when she saw a smiling Minerva watching them. "Er…"

"Good night, Neenie." The older woman smile widened when the teen reddened to look as a tomato at the use of the most hated nickname.

"Don't call me that!" The girl hissed. It had started with Sniffles calling her that, then Minerva had adopted it and used it as often as possible when they were alone. She feared what could happen if the name got to the rest of Hogwarts' population.

The old Headmistress chuckled and swiftly sat at what she liked to call her armchair. "It suits you, Neenie."

The teen simply growled. She knew by now that discussing with Minerva was a lost cause, so she simply changed the topic. "Have you eaten?" She asked. "We have some chicken and salad at the table, Sniffles brought us much more than we could eat." She offered waving at the mentioned table.

"I have, thank you." She nodded in gratitude, finally noticing that Luna had not moved as she was calmly napping. Shifting a little she could easily see how the youngest girl's nose was pressed firmly onto Hermione's tummy and how her right thumb was neatly placed in her mouth. The cheek she could see was stained with tear paths. "She looks comfy." She commented with an eyebrow raised, wondering how they had ended so, well, comfortable.

The brunette smiled sadly, her hand never stopped caressing the soft hair. "We had sort of a problem before dinner and she got a little upset." She eyed the older witch. "I was simply reading to her so she could fall asleep."

"A problem?" Minerva asked just a tad alarmed.

Hermione gently levitated her book to the table, knowing full well that she was not going to keep reading anytime soon. She started explaining. "Shortly after you left I ask Luna for some time to do our homework. I was finishing one of my essays when I noticed that she wasn't doing anything other than watching me, with something like an intrigued look on her face. I asked why she wasn't doing her own homework and she stated she haven't any… I, being me, didn't believe her." Minerva scoffed at that. Hermione could smell homework from a mile away.

"So I kinda forced her to show me her notes." She continued. "She didn't have any and that lead me to realize that little Luna here is behind in all her school work, both homework and classwork." The brunette winced a little. "I got angry and I may have scolded her a little too harsh."

She was not going to confess to her mentor how she had practically berated the girl to where the girl was crying and asking for forgiveness. It had taken the brightest witch in the century ten whole, tears filled, minutes to understand that Luna did not had a clue of why she was being chided. It had taken Hermione another ninety minutes to calm the girl down, ask for forgiveness and patiently explain why she had been so angry and what the word homework meant.

"Don't you say." Minerva deadpanned. And angry Hermione was something that could make even the Headmistress cry.

Hermione frowned. She still felt guilty of how she had exploded to the little thing sleeping in her lap, and it did nothing to ease her guilt when she realized that she had made the girl cry just a day before she was set to leave for the holidays. It also did nothing for the guilt she always felt when talking with Minerva. "I think she doesn't know that we are supposed to turn in work after class, or that we are assigned essays often."

The old witch sighed. "I know you are, indeed, right."

And for the next hour the Headmistress told her young friend what had happened at the staff meeting and what she had learnt about the little blonde.

XxXxX

The voice that had lulled her to sleep was no longer going on and on about some boy and his magician uncle, and another, scratcher one, had joined it. The mix was not unpleasant and she decided to let Minerva and Neenie talk while she went back to sleep in a place where she was safe.

She had a full tummy and a nice place to rest, coupled with a pair of soothing voices, why should not she take the chance she had been given?

XxXxX

"Luna, honey, wake up." The blonde girl frowned. She did not want to wake up! She was playing with the little Riogpakds, running around and chasing one another… the monkey like creatures were fun to be around!

"Luna, please, wake up."

"No." She mumbled around her thumb. She sighed contently and burrowed deeper onto the warm body that lay beneath her.

A soft groan. "Please Luna, I need to pee!"

The blonde whimpered, she knew that need to well, too well that it was not even funny. Without opening her eyes she simply let herself roll away from a top Hermione's warm body, falling softly in the mattress below. She felt how the older girl practically sprang from the bed and dashed out the room, sounding as an avalanche was taking place.

Luna half opened one eye, debating with herself if she needed to wake up or nor. It was still dark and the room was chilled. From her spot on the bed she could see the dorm's window and the moon that hung clearly in the sky. It was still night, then, and she could easily keep sleeping. She closed her eye and forced herself to return to her dreams.

The only problem was that she just could not.

Several minutes passed before she finally gave up. Sitting up she looked around and was not surprised to find herself in Hermione's bedroom. She frowned. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep resting on the older witch's lap, lulled by a story she was rather enjoying, though it was fairly strange.

A shiver passed her body. The air was too cold and she gathered the blankets to cover herself more thoughtfully. Maybe Hermione had carried her to bed, then, because she did not remember being tucked in. And, if she considered that she was now wearing one of her flannel pajamas, then the older girl surely had done it while she was dead to the world.

Said girl chose that moment to re-enter the room, she was dressed pretty much the same as Luna remembered from the night before, a thin see-through camisole and a pair of, strangely enough, boxers. The older girl's chest was easily visible and it showed the blonde that it was indeed a very cold night. Her slightly darkened areolas made the younger girl stare and the oldest one blushed, making a conscious effort not to cover herself.

"Sorry I woke you… I really needed to go." She climbed to the bed again, swiftly taking a sip from a bottle that was at her bedside table and grimacing at the taste. She settled herself beneath the covers, sighing softly when her freezing feet made contact with the warmth she had to escape in order to relive herself.

"It's okay." Luna mumbled, her thumb still firmly placed in her mouth, wondering what the girl was drinking. The brunette had taken a larger sip before going to bed the first time they slept together and now she was taking it again. She thought about that for a second before her eyes widened, alarmed. The finger was quickly pulled from her mouth and she promptly put the offending hand under her bottom, looking like any small child who was caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Hermione smiled, having seeing the girl sucking her thumb ever since the first night she had slept besides her. It was an unconscious thing, as she knew fully well that the blonde fell asleep almost without prompting, and minutes later, the thumb would found its way inside the ever sucking mouth. "It's fine, Luna."

The girl frowned. "You are not angry?"

Hermione blinked, truly perplexed at the way the girl had phrased the question. This was a first as Luna was not known to talk 'normally'. However, she could not think about it too much because the girl was looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. "I'd never get mad for something that makes you happy, Luna."

The little girl's frown deepened, truly confused. "But…"

The brunette echoed her frown, knowing fully well why the girl did not believe her. "I confess there are things that makes me mad, some more than others, and schoolwork is often at the top of that list." She scooted over to the other girl, almost knee to knee, and took hold of the hidden hand. "But, I promise you, Luna, I'll try to never get angry at you again," she smirked and interlaced their fingers together, not caring about the slight wetness she felt. "At least not until I've talk to you about it, okay?"

Luna blinked owlish, sudden tears filling her eyes. She hated the way this woman made her feel. Hermione had been the very first person to ever make an effort to talk to her, as even her mother had talked to her like a baby up until she had died, and her father still talked to her with strange references and crazy stories.

The brunette had been the first to seek contact with her ever since her mother had died, almost six years ago. She had been the first to defend her from an angry teacher, the first to make sure she had eaten, the first that had taken the time to find why she had so much trouble grasping the homework concept, the first that had read her to sleep in several years…

"And I swear, Luna Lovegood, that I will never, ever, get angry for something that makes you happy."

Hermione Granger was the very first person to ever make her feel truly loved ever since her mother passed away.

With a heavy sob the lithe girl launched herself to the older girl's arms, the tears that previously had fallen silently were now finally accompanied by the cries of her tortured soul. She had learnt to cry silently, as not to bother others, as not to give them more ammunition to torture her, but this witch, this marvelous human being, was safe to finally let loose and mourn.

Mourn for her mother's demise. Mourn for her father's indifference. Mourn for the normal childhood she had been denied. Mourn for the life she had let behind at the Rook. But more importantly, mourn for the love lost she had not have until Hermione had arrived.


	8. Secret's Out

**A/N:** For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.

However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure, well more than sort of…

I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.

"Speak."

_'Thoughts.'_

Warnings: Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits, Consumption of Elven Leaves, OOC, Overall Wizarding Stupidity, Plans of Revenge.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I just simply play with them and give them back at the end of the day… though I'd like to see the Hogwarts Castle at least once…

**Chapter Eight – Secret's Out**

Minerva McGonagall was not an easily pleased woman. You just had to do your job as you were supposed to and then she was conformed. Just give her a bottle of firewhiskey, a small pouch of catnip, tell her a good enough joke, or prove that you were, indeed, intelligent, and she was set.

But for her to be truly happy just small things had to happen. Special small things.

Just like the one she was seeing.

Her young friend, a teen she held very close to her hear, that in fact, she would like to call her daughter, was smiling, truly smiling, for the very first time since that day she had come running to her office, declaring that she had finally friends. It was not a full grin, no, nor it was that bothersome little quirk of her lips that was mask worn in front others, in front of teachers and students alike, that was meant to keep them at bay, to protect herself.

No. The smile she was seeing was a small one, barely visible, but it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It was a content, happy, smile that made the older woman wonder why the world had been deprived from such a lovely gift.

Hermione was laying on her side, deep asleep. Her legs were bent, half way to her chest, just the other body in bed preventing them to truly bend all the way. One of her arms was being used as a pillow for the flaxen girl, embracing the little girl by her shoulders, her hand gently resting on the blonde hair. The other arm circled the waist of the curled third year, that hand tracing small patterns in the younger girl's back. Luna simply laid there, turned to the brunette and resting so close to the older girl that it was hard for Minerva to see the girl's face, hidden in both chestnut and golden hair. The only things visible in between them was one of the thumbs of the youngest firmly placed into her mouth, and a little pale hand groping one the fifth year's breasts.

Had it been any other person fondling the young brunette, Minerva McGonagall would have been furious. But, she was not blind, Hermione had never been so at ease, so at home, until Luna had entered in her life. And she had arrived to stay.

She had wanted to speak to the young Claw the night before, she wanted to make sure that the decisions she had made in her favor were going to be accepted. She had wanted to tell her that she was no longer to sleep in Ravenclaw's Tower, that she would be assigned a private room, far from the people that wanted to harm her. She had wanted to tell her that the lack of colors in her uniform was not strange, just uncommon. She wanted to tell her that Professors Lupin and Greenwood were to help her understand the ways of a student.

But the girl had been sleep when she came visiting the night before. So she did the next best thing, she told Hermione.

The brunette had immediately jumped to the chance to officially help the girl. She had offered the spare room of her quarters, and she had also offered to coach the girl in all her subjects, and to guide her through her homework. Minerva smiled at the memory. There was nothing more darling than an excited Hermione… and she had never seen the witch so excited and concerned.

The Headmistress hated to do what she was about to do, simply because the girls were so cute tangled like that together, but she needed to wake them up, even though it was only seven.

Going silently to the side where Hermione was resting, she gently placed her warm hand on the young witch's shoulder, and shook once, firmly. A deep groan answered her efforts, and she shook her once more, just a tad more forcefully. This time it was a little whine, something close to a mewl, that protested. Minerva smirked. Having had the girl over at her manor last summer had made the older witch realize that the young brunette was not a morning person and that she was as difficult to rise as the dead. However a small, yet functional, ritual always woke her up.

"Neenie, wake up." She said softly, just waiting a second to add. "One."

"No." It was muttered, and barely recognizable, but the older witch had practice when dealing with a half Inferi Hermione.

"Neenie, wake up." Another second, another shake. "Two."

"Let go." The whine made the always stoic witch grin.

"Neenie, wake up." She said for the third time, the last time she would say this phrase this day. "Thre-"

Before she could finish saying the number the arm that had been holding Luna by the waist moved faster than a Snitch and her hand covered her bottom, where Minerva was getting prepared to slap. "I'm up!" The girl said hurriedly.

Minerva chuckled. "I'm glad." Just the small ritual and the girl was up, like always. Not that she would ever confess how long it had taken her to train the girl. She could not help herself when she thought of that, though, and she slapped her hard anyway, just where her small hand could not cover her.

Hermione looked at her like the wounded soul she believe she was. That damned woman and her damned habit of spanking her when she was half asleep! She turned back to Luna and her face reddened. The girl was eyeing her with curiosity and a pinch of amusement, with a small smile tugging at her lips, both her hands now clutching the front of her camisole. "At least someone woke up happy." She muttered.

"Come on, girls, up, up!" Minerva said from her place halfway into the brunette's wardrobe, where she was taking clothes from the hangers.

Hermione sighed and untangled herself from the younger girl, who decide that was as good time as any to flee the room to find the bathroom. "Not that I don't love seeing you this early," she yawned. "But why did you wake us? The train leaves until noon." She stood and stretched, slightly rubbing her stinging buttock.

Minerva smiled at the teen, still amazed at the level of trust between them. "I'm afraid no student can stay this Christmas, Neenie. The charm stones were too heavily affected yesterday and I've had to call a special team to fix them…" The older witch paused to place the clothes she had chosen on the stunned teen's hands. "They requested the school to be totally vacated, meaning that _all_ of us are leaving today."

"But…" the girl did not even think of being offended at the name she had been called. She could not leave Hogwarts! A small pang of guilt, a guilt she had been carrying for years now started to surface yet again.

"Hermione," the stern witch looked at her in contemplation. "You need to see your parents. You haven't seen them since the summer before your fourth year."

The younger witch gulped. With a heavy heart she sat on the bed, willing the tears that wanted to escape to stop. How could she possibly tell Minerva that it had been longer than that since she had last seen her parents? Sure she had spent the last summer at McGonagall Manor, and the Christmas before at school, both times in close proximity with the older witch, but she just could not tell her the reasons why she could not go home. "I can't." She whispered, her voice broken. The guilt she felt only intensified, knowing that she had been deceiving this woman, the only adult to really like her for who she was.

The Headmistress blinked. "I know this is such a short notice, but I'm certain your parents could easily accommodate to have you." They had done so in the girl's second year, when she had planned on staying at school for Christmas but had been forced to leave due the Basilisk that was roaming the school.

The brunette looked up, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes against her will. She had promised herself she was done crying over them, and here she was, still shedding tears because of what they had done. But she was no fool, it still hurt, just as it hurt to know she was lying to the older witch. "Please, Ma- Min, don't make me do this."

The older witch frowned, truly taken back at the reaction she was seeing, hearing perfectly the girl's almost slip and yet choosing to ignore it. Dropping the clothes she had been folding on the dressing table she turned to the younger witch fully. "Neenie, what's the matter?" She sat next to the fifth year, gently embracing her by the shoulders. "Why won't you go home?"

Hermione shuddered and tried to come up with a lie, anything that would be better than the true, all the while fighting her tears. "They left for Switzerland a week ago." She said hurriedly. "They wanted me to go, of course, but I don't like skiing so-"

"Hermione Jean." It only took two words from the Headmistress to shut up the girl. They were spoken in such a chilled yet still hot tone that she knew to halt immediately. "Do not lie to me, young lady."

"It's not a lie, I sw-"

This time it was the firm, yet gentle grip in her shoulder that clearly warned her of keeping digging her early grave. "Do not even finish that thought, little girl, or you'll find yourself across my lap again. You know I don't tolerate you lying."

The brunette blushed despite the despair she was feeling. She and Minerva's lap had meet more times that she liked… ever since that stupid accident with the Troll in her first year she had gotten to know the Headmistress' firm hand and strong belief that there was nothing more effective than a harsh spanking to ensure Hermione did not repeat her mistakes. "I won't." She gulped.

"Then tell me. Why don't you want to go home?"

The younger girl fidgeted. "I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"I just can't." The tears she had fought to stop were winning and threatened to star falling at any moment. "Please, just don't make me go back. Please."

The oldest witch looked at her with a mix of concern and love that melted the girl's heart but told her she was losing against her. She knew Minerva would keep pushing, just as she had pushed her last summer, but she really could not tell the older witch her reasons, she needed to stay firm. "I tried to contact them yesterday, but they didn't answer." She told her quietly. "I'll take you there myself, Hermione, and then we'll sort this out."

"No!" The girl sobbed, the tears finally falling. The hands that had been gently resting on her lap suddenly clenched her camisole, her knuckles white in terror. She was truly scared, almost as scared as she had been with Voldemort standing only a few feet before her. "You can't!"

Minerva's heart broke at the desperation her young friend was feeling, but she needed to know. She needed to make sure the girl was alright, even though it was clearly obvious she was not. "Tell me why not, Hermione. Tell me why you won't go back to your parents."

"Because I don't know where they are!" The girl finally screamed, letting her hidden secret out. "They left in second year, and I don't know where they are!"

Minerva sat stunned, not expecting to hear _that_. She had half expected a troubling home, maybe even an abusing home, although that was impossible with the measures the Ministry had… she had never expected the sixteen years old to be abandoned for two years now… "How?" It was the only thing she could come up with. How could this girl survive so long alone, with no means for money or shelter? How this girl could keep the secret? How was it possible to the Ministry to have overlooked such clear case of abandonment? How it was that this girl was not in foster care?

"Please don't let them take me!" Hermione howled. "Please don't!"

It then was clear for the Headmistress, the true reason the girl had kept it a secret. "Oh, my dear girl." She cooed softly, and, with strength fitter for a woman half her age, she effortlessly picked the girl up to sit her sideways on her lap. "Let it out, sweetie, just let it out."

Hermione cried, her nose firmly tucked on the older witch's neck. She felt more than saw when a second body appeared at her back, gently hugging her, silently telling her that things would be fine, that she was loved, that she was supported.

Luna looked at the oldest witch from her spot wrapped around the brunette, silent tears falling in pain for the friend. She had heard everything, but she was not sure if she had understood. Why would somebody ever leave this wonderful girl?

Minerva simply looked down to the blonde, rocking the sobbing mess in her lap, wondering the exact same thing.

XxXxX

**A/N: This is were everything starts getting strange... please leave a review if you'd like :D**


	9. Train Ride

**A/N:** For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.

However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure, well more than sort of…

I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.

"Speak."

_'Thoughts.'_

Warnings: Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits, Consumption of Elven Leaves, OOC, Overall Wizarding Stupidity, Plans of Revenge.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I just simply play with them and give them back at the end of the day… pretty much like rented bowling shoes…

* * *

**Chapter Nine – Train Ride**

The man sighed. He was so tired and the news from Hogwarts only made his chest hurt worse than it had been for the last days. All the people in the castle had to be evacuated due some darn storm that had gotten in some charm stones' way.

He still could not get away from work and his house was still not fit for human living, so it had been a real blessing when Molly had accepted taking Harry for the three weeks the holidays lasted. It would allow the boy to be with his friend and him to actually get a little rest for a couple of days before he went hunting more Death Eaters… and would give him a chance to actually start preparing his house for them to live.

He was now currently entering his family old home. It was Sunday and it was his 'free' day, so Twelve Grimmauld Place was the last place he wanted to be. As the house was probably more fit for mice than humans, he needed to make sure the old mansion was fit to be lived in once Hogwarts was done for the year. It would not do having Harry's guardianship without a place for the boy to live after all.

He had fixed the house, more or less, in the time he had been in hiding. The roof had been patched, the cracks in the walls were sealed and the loose carpet, nailed. He had only done enough for him to actually survive in the place, and Kreacher did nothing to help him.

"Who is there?!" The screeching voice of his beloved mother was the first thing he heard as he crossed the threshold. "Kreacher! Who's there?!"

Sirius sighed again. This was going to be a horrible visit.

XxXxX

The countryside passed in a blur behind the window she was resting against. It was cold, and the window was partially obscured with the steam the five of their breathings created. Small sheep from different sizes suddenly appeared and disappeared in the snow covered ground, only her trained eye and the will to see them made the little white things visible for her.

She could feel the little body curled on her side, wrapped around her torso, cooling her skin, and, much to her content, warming her heart. The steady and gentle rise and fall of the girl's chest clearly indicated the world that her companion was fast asleep. She squeezed the waist she was holding ever so softly, wondering how in the world she could make sure her life stayed as she wanted it.

In the seats opposite they sat her friends, or who she had considered her friends once. Two mops of fiery red and a mop of untamed black hair where looking at her with something close to fear and accusation. The girl and two boys had been eying her like that for almost two hours now, and she dreaded the hours to come as the journey was still far from over.

"What?" She said finally. She could faintly see her reflection in the window, her chestnuts hair was more tangled than usual, her skin pale and her eyes still a little bloodshot… the usual telltale that she spent a long time crying.

Her voice was scratchy and barely audible, but it was enough to get the angriest of her friends to start. "Bloody hell, Hermione!" Ron hissed at her. "You disappear for the weekend and when you come back you have that thing attached to you! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Hermione slowly turned to look at him. Her eyes vacant of any expression and dull. "I would appreciate if you refer to her by her name, Ron. She is not a thing, she is my friend."

Ginny blinked. "Loony has no friends, Hermione." She the chuckled and asked exited. "Oh, I know, you are planning a prank of some sort, right? Can I help? I know some really good ones we've pulled on her already! She always falls for them!"

The brunette simply stared at her, her vacant eyes filling suddenly with hate and anger. "She is my friend, Ginevra. You won't prank her ever again. Understood?"

It was easy for the others to feel the drop in temperature. The glass on both window and door suddenly covering in thin ice. The blonde girl shuddered and Hermione gently wrapped her with the blanket that had been resting in both their laps.

"Mione, what-"

"Don't call me that, Ronald." Her hateful gaze turned to the older redhead. "I know you like pranking her too, and I also know you enjoyed making her cry in her first year. You don't get to call me that." Truthfully she had only seen him do that once, but she could not pass him to actually do it often, just because it would make him feel powerful for once.

The boy turned red, almost matching his hair in anger. "Fine, _Morgen_." He sneered the name, just as he was saying a filthy word. "You can't possibly like her! She's too strange, even for you!"

Hermione bristled at the name he chose. She did not like it, it was a jinxed name that carried a curse she did not want to dwell on. It did not really help that it was the name Voldemort had used to refer to her, the same name she was called worldwide thanks to the Prophet, the last thing the bloody bastard had yelled after succumbing to both her and Harry's joined magic. She still did not know how the Prophet had found out about the name, nor the reasons the Dark Lord had to call her that, but it had stuck to haunt her. "She is way better than you, Ronald! More powerful and _intelligent_!"

"Hey! I helped kill You-Know-Who!"

"She would have done more than kill a bloody snake!" She hissed in true anger.

Ginny's face was the same color as her brother in an instant. "How dare you?" She growled. The Weasley family had taken pride over the fact that Ron had helped defeat the one once known as Tom Riddle, even though his only role had been beheading a piton and fainting afterwards due all the gore he saw.

"Guys," Harry finally spoke. His voice calm and sweet, but just a little patronizing, both his hands on the shoulders of the redheaded that sat at both sides of him. "Come on, calm down. Mione didn't mean it like that."

"No, Harry, I meant it just the way it sounded." She hissed, the tips of her hairs floated slightly with the static of her anger. The temperature dropped again. "He thinks the sun sets because of him, but he is wrong, he is just a stupid prat with a stupid inferiority complex, too scared to even confront his own shadow and who is always hiding behind you!" The boy simply stood up and fled the compartment, too angry to even form words.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed alarmed. Who was this girl and what had she done with his best friend? "What's gotten into you?"

The brunette sighed, suddenly drained. "I'm tired, Harry." She slumped in her seat. "Tired of pretending to like him, of pretending to like most people, really. I'm tired of always being the center of attention, of people calling me Morgen in the street and the school. I'm tired of having to have certain friends because I like you, Harry. I'm just tired."

"Then stop trying to rob the spotlight from Ron." The remaining redhead all but growled. "Go be friends with the Loony, see if she can be better than us! And Harry is mine, you bitch!" With that she also left, following her fuming brother, knowing full well she had the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice trained well enough that he would defend their honor and go looking for them soon.

"Hermione?" Harry asked softly.

"I'm sorry Harry, is the truth." She smiled. "You're like a brother, but I can't keep putting on with your friends, I'm sorry."

The green eyed boy nodded. He could understand how a person as intelligent and unique as Hermione could get fed up of Ron and Ginny. Sometimes he got tired of them too, but he liked them enough to overlook their flaws… Hermione simply could not. "I like you too, Mione." He smiled softly. "Like the sister I never had, but I can't think I can choose between you two."

Hermione smiled slightly. "I'm not asking you to. I want to be your friend, just don't make me to be their friend too. You can spend your time with anyone you'd like, I'm not asking you to leave them for me." The oldest girl knew Harry was being sent to the Borrow for the holiday, forced out of the school as she had been. She had somehow hoped for a couple of calm weeks just between the two of them, but the school's charms had gotten in the way.

The boy smiled and got up. Moving slowly, he steeped before the brunette and lightly kissed her on the forehead. "Thanks, Mione." He quickly blushed and turned to gather his trunk and both of their friends', which were left behind in the heat of their anger. "I've better go look for them."

Hermione nodded, she knew Harry needed to make sure Ron did not hate him, and that Ginny still wanted to date him. It was not nice, knowing she was a more disposable than the others, but she knew that Harry simply could not stand having the Weasley boy angry at him. She was used to them getting angry at her together, shunning her once in a while, but that did not mean that it did not hurt just a little.

"Good luck with that." She said softly, wishing her heart did not break at knowing that he would not chose her, even when she had told him she did not care.

Harry finished gathering their things and headed to the door, which glass was now thankfully ice-free. "You know," He said equally softly. "I've always wanted to meet Luna Lovegood. Maybe you could introduce us after the break?"

Hermione smiled. "Count on that."

With a final nod the boy left the compartment, the almost silent thud that the door made echoing in the silence. Some minutes passed and Hermione simply stared at the white landscape, wondering how life could change in just an instant.

It had taken her an instant to realize that she was different from the other kids at school. It had taken her an instant to find out she was a witch. It had taken her an instant to talk to an elderly witch and finally have a friend. It had taken her an instant to understand that Harry would be by her side forever, even when he was angry at her. It had taken her an instant to know Luna would never leave her heart. It had taken her one instant to realize that her parents were gone for good. It had taken just an instant for Minerva to reveal she was alone.

"I know you are awake." She said finally, when she was sure her thoughts could kept quiet.

Luna opened her eyes halfway, refusing to meet those of the older witch. "How?" It was asked just above a whisper.

Hermione smiled softly, still staring outside the window. "You actually weren't sucking your thumb… and your thoughts were too loud."

The blonde blushed. Having the other three teens seeing her in such a vulnerable position would had been just bad. It could lead to more teasing and much more torment. Fortunately Minerva had talked to her while Hermione packed her trunk and had explained what her plans were for the coming term. She was to live with the brunette Prefect and she was going to receive especial classes in how to study and do her homework. She would had felt happy of those news if they had been delivered before, but Hermione's reveal of her little secret had put a damper in her merriment, and their plans.

The Headmistress had to inform the Ministry of the older witch's situation.

Hermione was to be sent to Social Services.

It was highly probable she would end at Foster Care, in a family from almost anywhere in the world as the magical Foster Care System was worldwide.

Given that, it was also highly probable she would not return to Hogwarts.

"I'll miss you." The fifth year's voice was soft, too soft for Luna's liking. She could not be sure if the girl was referring to just the holidays or something completely different.

"I love you." Luna's voice was equally quiet, equally broken.

Hermione turned to the younger girl, her brain wondering how in the world she had opened for this girl, for this little thing that she had only known for a couple of days. Her mind yelled at her that it was impossible, that she could simply do not care for a complete stranger. However her heart hurt at the thought of never seeing her again, of losing something that she knew was now a part of her soul.

Tears start falling from her deep bronze eyes. "I love you too, Luna."

XxXxX

**A/N: Please leave a review?**


	10. New Guardian

**A/N:** For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.

However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure, well more than sort of…

I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.

"Speak."

_'Thoughts.'_

Warnings: Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits, Consumption of Elven Leaves, OOC, Overall Wizarding Stupidity, Plans of Revenge.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I just simply play with them and give them back at the end of the day…

* * *

**Chapter Ten – New Guardian**

"Miss Hermione Jean Granger." The voice echoed in the platform. It was deep, but certainly feminine and clearly heard above the rustle of trunks and the old train motor.

All the students stopped in their tracks and turned to the brown capped witch that stood out like a sore thumb, just at the entrance to Platform 93/4. The woman was tall, her dark hair fell to her shoulders and she was regarding all the students that were stepping out the Hogwarts Express with something that chilled more than one bone.

Movement caught the attention of all the people in the platform as a young brunette girl walked decidedly towards the woman that had caused so much commotion. Every student, and every parent, saw how the Gryffindor Princess held her head high and her step confident, her school truck trailing behind her. A small blonde was holding her hand tightly, soft tears running down her pale cheeks.

"Is that Loony Lovegood?" A shocked murmur was heard from somewhere.

The fifth year Prefect stopped before the taller witch. "I am Hermione Granger." Her own voice resonated in the sudden silence.

The woman nodded. "My name is Aurora Sterling, from the Abused Children Department." Exited whispers started at that declaration. "Please follow me." The older witch turned and left through the portal to Muggle London.

Hermione sighed and turned to Luna, a small smile lightening her face in a fake mask of enthusiasm. She fooled nobody. "Well, here goes nothing." She hugged the girl to her chest. "I'll see you in January, Luna."

The older witch let go and stepped to the entrance, intend of following the woman that now held her fate. She only made it a couple of feet when a small broken voice called her.

"Neenie?"

She turned again, just in time to catch a flying blonde, who practically hugged her with her whole body. Her arms wrapped at her neck just as her legs trapped her waist. The hug lasted only a couple of seconds before the little girl let go with a small smile of her own. "See you in January."

And with that the smartest witch in the century turned again and left the platform, for which she hoped was not the last time.

XxXxX

"Name?"

"Hermione Jean Granger."

"Age?"

"Sixteen."

"Date of Birth?"

"September the nineteen, nineteen seventy-nine."

"Place of birth?"

"Lewisham, London."

"Blood Status?"

A slight frown. "Muggle-born."

"Education?"

"Currently coursing fifth year at Hogwarts."

"Wand?"

"Is that truly necessary?"

"Please answer the question, Miss."

A sigh. "Twelve and a half inches, vine, dragon heartstring, unyielding."

"Very well, Miss Granger, please wait here for one of my coworkers to talk to you."

The young witch sighed again. It had taken the bloody Abused Children Department, or A.C.D. for short, nearly two days just to ask her those stupid questions she was sure they already knew the answer of. Now she had to wait for a while longer before she was interviewed, and for them to decide what to do with her.

She had spent those couple of days in a small room in what she thought was the magical equivalent to an Orphanage. Fortunately the clerks at the Department had allowed her to keep her trunk so she had at least her books to keep occupied. Her wand had been confiscated, though, something about a kid near her age trying to blast a hole in the wall to escape. She scoffed. She had nowhere to hide, why should she try to escape?

So she was now sitting at the uncomfortable chair she was practically bounded to, in a small room that highly reminded her of the interrogation rooms they used at the cheap Muggle telly shows her mother liked to watch. Her mother. Thanks to her and her father Hermione was currently in this dreadful situation. If she were not so hurt about their abandonment she would have hated them, she was sure of it.

She was halfway through her favorite book, _The Last Battle_, when the door to her small room was opened. In stepped the same witch that had taken her from the platform.

"Good afternoon, Miss Granger."

"Good afternoon, Ma'am."

"I'm sorry it took us so long to get started," the witch sat herself in the chair next to Hermione. "Your case could easily stir so many questions and anger many people, we had done everything in our power to keep you situation under wraps."

The brunette frowned. "What do you mean?"

Aurora Sterling sighed. "You are Morgen, one of the Golden Trio. You are the witch that had helped Harry Potter defeat You-Know-Who. That alone is ground for many of our leaders to be angered that your situation had slipped from our noses. You are highly famous and important in the magical community so we don't want the public to know. However, you are also only a fifth year, and Muggle-born, that, along with of how did you managed to escape the Ministry had raised many questions I hope you can answer."

"I'll try." The brunette answered, wondering why the blood status was so important to these people.

"First things first," The black-jet haired woman took out a small vial from the inner pocket of her robe. "Drink it." She ordered softly.

"What's this?" The younger witch asked suspiciously.

"It's a potion that will help you answer me as honest as possible, and with no need for me to ask for details, as it will make sure you tell me anything you consider important."

"Veritaserum?" The girl asked alarmed, knowing full well using that was against the law unless the one applying it was an Auror.

"No, girl." Aurora blinked, slightly impressed someone so young know about the Truth Potion. "This is just a mild potion intended to relax you and prompt you to tell me everything you think I should know."

With a small frown, but really wanting to get thing started, she quickly swallowed the potion, which surprisingly enough, tasted like strawberry juice.

"Okay, then, Miss Granger. Since when you've been alone? How did it happen?"

Hermione blinked, not really sure she wanted to answer that, but knowing she was going to be as truthful as possible anyway. Maybe they could let her get emancipated! "Well, I got back from Hogwarts after my second year, and when I came back they were gone. There was no one waiting for me at the Platform, so I just took the underground and went home."

"How?" the witch was actually perplexed. First and second years kids were the most guarded and protected in Hogwarts, mainly because kids that age were still considered too young to take care of themselves.

"I _am _Muggle-born."

"Right. Please continue."

"I arrived home and they simply were not there. I guessed they had been detained at work, so I just order myself some dinner and went to bed. When I woke up they were still not there, so I called their practice. They did not answer. I called my dad's second job at the High School, but they hadn't heard of him since term started.

"I got worried then. I went to their room, a place I had forbidden to enter, and hope to find something, a note, a letter, something." She sighed, small tears of frustration gathering in her eyes at remembering the desperation she felt that day. "I found nothing. No letter, no note, nothing! They took their clothes and money from the safe. The room was barren except from the bed.

"I then went looking through the house and found that they had taken their books, my father's cheque book, my mother's recipe box. They took everything theirs and left my things in my room. It took me a while to believe it, but they were not there."

"And then?"

"Then I went to Miss Patmore's. She is the lady that lived next to us. She told me that my parents had been gone since almost a month after Christmas; nobody saw them leave, they just disappeared one day and the neighbors finally realized they were gone around that time. She became highly suspicious that I had arrived so I told her that I was going with them but I kinda had a problem with my school and I needed to stay some days in Lewisham but that I had thought my father or mother would be waiting for me. The poor woman was so mortified I was alone that she offered me her guest room for a couple of days. After that I told her I had heard from my parents, and that I had permission to stay alone at the house until I had to go back to the Lycée I am supposedly attending. Miss Patmore still looked after me for that summer, though. Then on September the first I took the train back to Hogwarts. I hadn't been back since."

"You are a bright witch, Miss Granger. I know you know of the wards we place in every magical child home to prevent situations like this. You have no idea how many children are abused and abandoned every year. I also know one of my colleagues went to your home that summer and you somehow convinced her of leaving you alone. How did you evade the A.C.D. wards?"

Hermione snorted, those stupid wards were the easiest to manipulate she had ever known. Any witch or wizard could easily fix them so that any abuse or ill towards a child could stay hidden. She knew at least two cases where the Ministry was simply blind to child abuse and, as she had discovered, most of their employees were totally stupid. "I told, I think her name was Ms. Thornwood, that my parents had gone to France, but that I hadn't wanted to go with them. I convinced her that Miss Patmore was the one that was taking care of me by my parents' wishes, telling her that I needed to stay in England in order to maintain my scholarship. She simply asked Miss Patmore if I was under her care, Miss Patmore said yes and then was obliviated."

"And the wards? You know they are activated when a magical kid is by themselves, or abused in any way or form." The older with said with just a little exasperation behind her voice.

She mentally scoffed, knowing that her attitude was irking the woman before her. While she was underage and could not fix the wards by herself without tipping the Ministry, she had simply chosen a different path to avoid detection. "I haven't been there since that summer. I stayed my third year Christmas at school, then part of my fourth year summer hopping around hotels, telling people at school I would be at France with my parents, and the rest of it with the Weasleys. The next Christmas I was again at school and last summer I stayed with Professor McGonagall, asking her to help me with my wandless magic." At that the older witch gasped. "I was going to stay this year at Hogwarts again, but the Headmistress send me home, one thing led to another, she found I was alone… that's why I'm here."

The tall woman nodded, so far the girl was clearly smarter than most children that ended in this room. "What about money, Miss Granger? Hogwarts is by far the most expensive Wizarding school, but it costs a decent amount of money, as do the materials and robes."

Suddenly tears started to form in her eyes, all her annoyance at the stupidity of the Ministry gone. She closed her eyes as they started to fall and a sob echoed in the room, knowing this was a subject she was still touchy about did not really made the sharp pain in her heart hurt less.

The older witch's heart stopped for a second, wondering exactly why that question had prompted such a strong emotion. "My Grandmama died shortly after I turned ten. She left me everything that was hers, her money, her house, her business and her investments." The older witch released a breath she did not know she was holding. Fortunately Miss Granger had been spared of the professions young women like her had more often than not been forced to take. This girl had not been forced to sell her body in order to survive, and just that knowledge made the Ministry agent's day.

Hermione flinched when a hand rested on her shoulder briefly, conveying the older woman's support but only making her nervous, she had never been big on physical contact and her grandmother's death always made her especially sensitive. "Grandmama was very strict that I was to be able to use the money and to take the business decisions the moment she passed away. She always told me she trusted my judgment better than my father's that's why she left me everything." She smiled through her tears. "She was not poor, she left me with enough to live comfortably for at least ten years, and also left me the means to keep making money with her investments and the several small business she owned. I've been taking care of them since she d-died, so I have the money to attend Hogwarts easily."

The other witch nodded. "I think you are, indeed, too smart for your own good, Miss Granger."

Hermione wanted to tell her that it was them who were just too stupid and that did not have a pinch of common sense, but thankfully the potion did not forced her to say that, as it had not forced her to say several things she knew could only dig her deeper in this problem or that could easily make some of her friends' lives more difficult than they already were. "What happens next?" She said as she dried the last of her tears.

Aurora Sterling smiled slightly. "Next, you are taken to your foster home, and we hope that you are adopted soon."

The girl frowned. "Couldn't I get emancipated?"

The older witch shook her head. "I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but the fact that you hid your situation for two years makes it impossible to grant you that option. Knowing you needed to inform the authorities of your parents' leave, and deceiving a Ministry employee just show that you are, to the law, unfit to look after yourself. And you will be punished accordingly."

The girl gulped. She remembered what she had read in her law books, the punishments the Ministry handed out were usually a short trip to Azkaban or some magic dampening, often taking the accused's wand and snapping it in two. "What kind of punishment?"

The Ministry employee simply smiled wickedly. "We in A.C.D. have decided that your punishment should be handed by your guardian, as we know it would certainly make a bigger impact on you that way."

"M-my guardian?" Her whole body shook; she did not like how the other woman was looking at her. _'Pull it together, woman! You are a Gryffindor, the bravest of the houses!'_

"Yes, your new guardian, who had been listening to this whole conversation. They had pulled several strings to ensure you were place in their care, but I dare to say you would not like what is in store for you." A knock was then heard at the door. "Oh, there they are! Please come in!" The now cheerful woman called.

Hermione simply stared at the person that had just entered the room. The small flash of hope she had felt was instantly vanished by the fierce glare she received. She whimpered. Aurora Sterling was right. She was not going to like what awaited her.

XxXxX

**A/N: Guess who her guardian is? Leave a review if you'd like :D**


	11. Mama

**A/N 1: Seeing as I received the most reviews from last chapter, and that I'll be spending the rest of the week in the hospital, I decided to give you the next chapter a day earlier.**

**Thanks for all who guessed, though I was kinda confused with the one who say Snape :S Kudos to ****Mirany17**** and ****MagnusMagnus**** for good guessing. And a special mention to ****Pakapi**** who was the only one to guess why Hermione got scared at the end of last chapter... this one deals with that (sorta).**

**A/N:** For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.

However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure, well more than sort of…

I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.

"Speak."

_'Thoughts.'_

Warnings: Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits, Consumption of Elven Leaves, OOC, Overall Wizarding Stupidity, Plans of Revenge.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I just simply play with them and give them back at the end of the day… pretty much like rented ice skates…

* * *

**Chapter Eleven – Mama**

Sirius sighed once again. It felt like he was doing that more and more. He had spent several hours cleaning the first floor and even with magic it had really taken a toll on him. There was only one last place to clean on that floor before he left to rest for at least the evening.

It was a room he had not been since he had been disowned. It was the stupid second drawing room that was the favorite of his mother. It was the big one, the green one, where the long, confusing, family tapestry sat. It was a place both his brother and him where forbidden to be without an adult around. It was the room where most of his family's treasures and dark books were.

It was also the room where his father, Orion, liked to torture him and Regulus. Where the important meetings with fellow purebloods were held. Where many hours had transpired, trying to learn the family's history, legacy and desired future.

Entering the room that held so many bad memories, Sirius did a double take the moment his eyes found his name in the tapestry. Just as it had been the last time he saw it his face had been blasted off, just a black blur on the great family tree, nothing unnusual. But what got his attention was the name that was just beside him.

"What the…" He muttered, scared for the first time since the day Lily and James died.

Because just besides him a forbidden name was imbedded with black, deep letters. The man's known face connected with a marriage branch to one of his cousins, a cousin that was not married to _that_ man.

But what made him pale and almost drop to his ass was the branch that sprouted from the joined names. A baby, a girl, was born of a union that was unnatural, unmoral, and simply and truly wrong.

His eyes go wide and his breath came short at the youngest addition to the Black line: _Capella M. Black._

XxXxX

Tears streamed down her face, the occasional sniff was the only sound besides the cracking of the fire in the room. Her arms hung loosely at her sides and her hands were clenching the soft fabric of her boxers, itching to move to a much more desired place, but she knew better than to move them. Her legs were starting to tire, a firm indication she had been in the same position for far too long, yet she did not dare to shift her weight form one leg to another… she knew she was been watched.

She could easily feel the eyes in her back and she would not risk angering her tormentor, so she tried to distract herself by memorizing the complex pattern in the wall. The old wallpaper was still as bright as it had been when new, the soft cream color of the background and the just barely there green made for a combination she rather liked. She had spent many hours in this room, but she had not really stopped to consider the color of the walls. Maybe she could devote a day or two to explore the Manor and simply observe the wallpapers, maybe-

"You are daydreaming."

The stern voice made her crash back to Earth, but she did not answer. She knew better than that. She also knew that she was supposed to be thinking about the reasons that had led her to this place, in this very uncomfortable position, and with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Some minutes later a warm hand rested on the small of her back, making her tense in an instant, her hands holding on her loose boxers for dear life. Nothing happened for a second, but then a soft voice called her. "Come here."

Finally relaxing, she let out a sob, new tears streaming down her face. She felt rather than saw how the warm hand took one of hers and led her away from the corner she had been facing. A few seconds later she felt herself being lowered onto a soft lap and she could not help but jump a little when her much tender bottom made contact with it. Long bony arms hugged her and she left herself melt onto the wonderful witch that was holding her. "I'm sorry!" She sobbed onto her neck.

"Shh, my dear girl." The sweet voice of Minerva McGonagall cooed. "Everything is forgiven now."

That simply phrase only created more tears and the exhausted little witch let herself be loved and cared for. The guilt she had been carrying around for more than two years was finally gone. She knew she had been lying to Minerva for a long time now, and the more time that had passed, the more the guilt she had felt.

Hermione was forgiven now, so everything was right in her world. She had not liked the consequences of her actions, though. This had been the first time she had caned her, just the final touch to a severe and long spanking, and she was not looking forward to an encore.

She feared to think to lie to the stern Headmistress ever again.

Still, the freedom she felt at finally coming clean to the older witch was too much for her lo process. So she simply let herself feel. Feel how she was been taken care of, how one warm hand combed through her hair, how other caressed softly her bottom. She felt the gentle kisses that had been dropped at the top of her head, and the strong heartbeat that reminded her that this was real. She was finally at peace and that made her eyes drop tiredly, her tears still running.

"Hush, little Neenie, hush." The Headmistress whispered in her ear as the brunette fight off sleep.

"I'm sorry, Mama." It was just a half awake murmur, an almost silent plea, but it changed everything.

Both witches freeze at that, Hermione's drowsiness forgotten in an instant. Both knew that name had almost escaped the younger witch ever since the beginning of their shared summer, and both had chosen to ignore it. They both also knew that it was a name she had never called any other, not even the girl's biological mother.

Hermione was the first to react, and she launched herself far from the older witch, to stand at the other side of the Headmistress small private library in which all her punishment were held when they were in the Manor. "I'm s-sorry, Headm-mistress." She managed to say unsteadily, forcing her tears to disappear and not paying attention at her surroundings, nor her frantically beating heart and erratic breathing. "It won't happen again."

The girl tried to make an exit, fully aware that after her post-spanking cuddles she was free to go, not wanting to face the woman she considered more of a mother than a friend. She was stopped, however, when said woman simply embraced her and hugged her to her chest.

"My dear Hermione." Minerva said, her voice breaking with what the younger believed was barely suppressed emotion. "You know I fought tooth and nail to be your guardian. You also know that I'm still fighting to adopt you." She held the girl at arm's length, allowing the teen to see her own tears falling. "I'd be honored to be called your mother, Neenie. As I'll be honored if you let me call you daughter."

Hermione's limp arms finally came to life and she embraced the older witch for dear life, wondering what she had done to deserve such love from a woman many considered unfeeling, wondering if this was just a dream she was having, as many she used to have. She simply nodded. For the first time in her life she had no words.

XxXxX

"Moon Moon," a rich baritone voice called her. "An owl has come to see you!"

The blonde girl frowned from the tree branch she was hanging upside down from. Nobody send her letters. The only mail she ever got was her Hogwarts' letter every July. It was December. "Coming!" She yelled to her father. A letter… she would like to write a particular letter of her own, but she was not sure that she was allowed to.

"Hurry Moon Moon! The Bustrors are starting to make the little guy skittish!"

Luna sighed. And people wondered why she talked as strange as she did. Still, she let herself fall from her favorite branch and ran inside the Rook. It would do no good to the owl to be impatient for long… especially around her father.

She found the owl in the kitchen, trying its best to avoid the net her father was trying to catch it with. "Daddy!" She giggled, knowing her father confused the little thing's gender. "Leave her alone!"

"But Moon Moon!" He said happily. "He is filled with Desmurgs!"

"Daddy!" She scolded. "Let me have it! And it's a she!"

The man pouted and Luna had no trouble knowing he had been smoking elven leaves recently, yet the man silently left the kitchen.

The blonde girl sat at the table and called the little thing to her. She had always been big on animals, both magical and non-magical, and she could see this little girl was a really young Pygmy Owl, its grey feathers caught the light in a mesmerizing way, almost as if the owl had small white highlights, and the letter it was carrying was almost double the size of her little leg.

"Oh, little thing, who sent you?" She had always had a better connection with animals than with humans, and she knew that postal owls were the smartest out there, and that they would not judge her.

She carefully took the letter and smiled instantly at the way her name was written. There was only one person that she knew who would actually address her by her name, not Loony or Miss Lovegood. Giving the little thing some crumbs from breakfast, she looked as the small owl flew to one of the ceilings beams and fell asleep. That only made her smile more, knowing the owl was asked to wait for her response.

Her smile widened to a full on grin as she unrolled the parchment.

_My dear Luna,_

_I believe that by the time this letter is in your hands Christmas had already passed, but even so, Merry Christmas! I know just a week has gone by, but I really miss you. _

_I'm sorry I couldn't write sooner, but my guardian doesn't have a personal owl and we couldn't leave for Diagon Alley until yesterday. My guardian is a very busy person and had been so swamped in work and my adoption process to even see me for more than an hour a day. I hope that changes soon, though, because I really want to go exploring, but I'm grounded until further notice and I can't go out the house without an adult until then, not even to the gardens… seeing as there aren't any other adults around… well, I'm stuck here for the foreseeable future._

_But, I do have many things to do, like holiday homework (don't worry about yours, we'll be doing it when we get back) and reading. There is a huge library here at the Manor (not counting my guardians' private library), and I haven't even read half of it, so I know I'll be busy enough for a while. I also need to get the house elves used to me, and I believe that means I have to spend some time with them… I'm planning on teaching them how to play poker, maybe that way I'll be less bored in the future._

_Yes, I know I haven't told you who my guardian is, but I won't, hehehe. We do hope the adoption goes through before term starts and _I_ hope to adopt my guardian's last name. I haven't told them, yet, but I'm sure they'll agree and I want it to be a surprise, for both you and the whole school. I have the feeling you know who I'm talking about, don't you? If so, please don't tell me, I really want to believe this will surprise you._

_I know I should feel bad that I won't legally be a Granger, but I can't but feel really happy knowing the people who brought me to the world won't be my relatives any longer. I should feel bad they are gone and there is someone trying to replace them… but I just want to cry of happiness… I guess I'm just broken that way._

_Oh, by the way, let me introduce you to Argo, the little owl that had delivered this letter. She is my new familiar seeing as Crookshanks, my cat, didn't want to come back with me to Hogwarts after the summer. She is to wait for you if you want to answer this letter with her, just, please, let her rest for a while. She is rather young and I've asked my guardian where you lived and seeing as I'm in Scotland… well, the poor thing must be exhausted._

_I'll see if I can convince my guardian to let me visit or if you can come over, but seeing that my ass was beaten not too long ago, I really have no hope. Still, maybe miracles exist. _

_Please give my regards to you father. I wait for you letter._

_Hermione (hopefully not for long)Granger_

Luna sat stunned for several minutes after reading the letter. She was not sure what was that had surprised more: the fact that indeed Hermione had written to her, the fact that she was already ready to be adopted, the fact that she referred to her as _her_ dear Luna, the fact that the brunette was returning to Hogwarts… or the fact that McGonagall was going to be the one to adopt her.

"Argo?" She called softly and the little grey owl came down flying to her shoulder. "Come with me… I need to find parchment and a quill…"

It looked like she did was allowed to write that letter she so wanted to write after all.

XxXxX

**A/N: Leave a review please? I'd like to know how you liked the Minerva/Hermione mini scene.**


	12. The First Kiss

**A/N:** For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.

However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure, well more than sort of…

I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.

"Speak."

_'Thoughts.'_

Warnings: Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits, Consumption of Elven Leaves, OOC, Overall Wizarding Stupidity, Plans of Revenge.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I just simply play with them and give them back at the end of the day… pretty much like rented karaoke…

* * *

**Chapter Twelve – The First Kiss**

_Dear Neenie,_

_I'm glad you've finally found someone worth your love. I know that you love your guardian, otherwise you wouldn't talk about her like that. I don't really like surprises, so I'll come outright and tell you that I'll like to see our classmates' faces when Hermione McGonagall arrives to school. I know it took me a while to recover from that new._

_Why are you grounded? Are you already being a pain to your new mother? Or you are paying for past mistakes? I know you and Professor McGonagall have a special bound and I suspect you two have a history together, and although I'm curious, you don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to. That little bit about you being beaten was a joke, right? She didn't actually, well, you know, right?_

_Don't feel bad about wanting for better things, I can't understand how somebody, anybody, would like to get rid of you. You deserve better than what your parents had given you. I know we haven't known each other for long, but I do know that nobody deserves what had happened to you. You are one of the lucky ones to have someone who loves you already waiting for you. I do hope the adoption goes through soon._

_I don't know about holiday homework… I believe I have none, but seeing as I didn't know exactly that I was supposed to do school things on my own time… well, maybe I do have some._

_Potter came by the other day, just before Christmas. He came alone, not a Weasley behind him, and he was rather nice. A little nervous, I think, but he was polite and not once called me Loony. I guess your little display on the Express scared him. He came asking about you. I know he is your friend, but I'd hoped he'd come sooner after the whole school saw you being led away by an A.C.D. employee. He asked if I knew anything, but I didn't say… I wasn't sure what you wanted to tell people, because _everybody_ knows something had happened. That dumb woman was not subtle at all. _

_Either way, I've asked Daddy if I could go over or if you could come over, and he said either was fine, at least if _you_ are allowed. Floo in anytime you'd like, I'm not going anywhere, we could spend the day here or if you prefer, we could head back to your place. Just Floo to 'the Rook' and you'll be set._

_I'm sending my letter with Argo, she is a smart little girl and very cuddly, just like you._

_Thank you for writing to me. I hope we can make and habit out of this._

_Love, Luna._

Hermione smiled warmly at the awkwardly rolled parchment and the barely readable letter. Luna needed to practice her writing, that was for sure, but she could see that a writing Luna was much more expressive than a talking Luna. She rather liked it.

"Tell me, Argo." She requested her tired little grey owl. "Was she happy?"

Argo simply hooted, and closed her eyes, truly worn out after traveling across most of the Island in just a couple of days.

"I'll take that as a yes." She smirked at the little thing, still amazed that Minerva, _Mama, _had given her to her as one of her Christmas presents. She was not used to receive presents as her biological parents did not believe in the holiday. She had not gotten any from her Grandmama either, as the older woman had always believed that the best gift she could have been given was a wad of cash and a lecture on where to invest it or what was smart to buy. She had no other relatives, or any other who would actually buy her something as since third year neither Harry nor Ron had send her anything, so having presents was something just especial. She herself had only bought presents for a really small amount of people, but she had only sent their presents to one. She did not buy Luna something though, and that was something she hoped could change soon.

She had just read the letter for the third time and her heart warmed as it had done the previous times. Luna actually wanted her to keep writing to her… and that she wanted to meet with her before the holidays ended.

"You think Mama would be okay if I go away for the day?" She asked her sleeping avian familiar.

"No, she wouldn't." A voice called from behind her, making her jump.

"Hi, Mama." Hermione smiled impishly once her heart stopped beating furiously.

The older witch raised an eyebrow. She eyed the bedroom with just barely concealed amusement as she made her way to the bedside table where she deposited the bottle she had been carrying, having to move a couple of books and papers in order to do so. The younger witch always managed to make her room look like a library had thrown up: the bed was buried in books, the desk was covered in parchment and the floor was at least an inch deep in various study items, such as text books, researches, Muggle books, potion ingredients and more. The only spaces free were the rather big cat bed where Crookshanks liked to spend his days and the space around where Argo's new cage sat at the top of the girl's low dresser.

This room had belonged to the young Gryffindor since the summer, and it clearly resembled the girl's spirit. It was themed a light lilac, with deep purple accents. The bed was bigger than her one at school, but the flower pattern was pretty much the same one, just as the soft mauve sheets were. There was no wallpaper, as all the wall space had been filled with bookcases… bookcases that were currently half empty but should had been tidied earlier in the day.

"Hello, darling." She smiled at the seated girl that was looking up to her from her place in the floor, a top of a fluffy pillow. "Care to tell me why haven't you done your room?"

The young brunette winced. She knew she had forgotten something! "I got sidetracked, Mama." She answered honestly. She was still amazed at how well that word came out her mouth, it was like she had always called the older witch that.

"Really?" It was no secret that the girl was a lost cause when trying to tidy her room… there were too many things that caught her eye when she was supposed to put her books away. There were always a page, an incantation, an explication that she had never seen before and she had to read it before doing anything else. "And may I know exactly what entertained you?"

The younger girl beamed at her. "Luna answered!" She almost squealed like a little girl. She was excited, that was clear, but Minerva wondered for a second if the girl's enthusiasm was healthy as she had never seen her act like that. "She asked me to visit. Can I, Mama? Please?"

The Headmistress sighed. "You are still grounded, young lady."

"Mama!" Hermione whined. It felt nice to finally have someone to whine to. It made her heart ache in a nice way. "I can't sit comfortably yet, why am I grounded?" She really could not sit as she was used to. The older witch was a menace with that damned cane and she still had to use a pillow to sit comfortably for long periods of time, just as she was doing right now.

The older witch frowned, a little anger peeking behind her eyes. She knew she had punished the girl, and that after every punishment was delivered the girl was forgiven and the transgression forgotten, but what Hermione had done was beyond anything she had imagined. The girl had not only kept a secret that could be dangerous for her, but she had also hid from and deceived the Ministry for two years, not to mention that she had lied to her every time she had asked her about her parents.

Minerva had gone farther than she had ever gone with the girl's punishment. Caning the girl had been a little too extreme, but felt accordingly to the offense she had committed. She was grounded, though, because the Headmistress was still a little angry at her. _'But she'd endured her caning, that should been enough.'_ A voice in her head said softly, a voice that sounded too much like Remus. 'A_nd she hadn't asked for anything in the time she's been here, she's been a sweetheart and had been behaving like the cutie she is.'_

"Please, Mama?" The girl looked at her with her large, deep, doe like eyes. "Please?"

_'And Luna is currently her only friend.'_ The older witch sighed. "When did she tell you to go?"

Hermione silently cheered. "She said to drop in anytime, and that we can spend the day in the Rook or in here."

The older woma smiled at the clearly delighted brunette. Today the Headmistress had done something right. "Then finish your room. If you are done by lunchtime you can go and invite her to eat with us. If not, then you can always go there afterwards."

"Yes!" The girl practically launched herself from her spot to the older woman's arms. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Minerva chuckled and returned the hug. "Hurry up, Neenie."

"Yes, Mama."

XxXxX

The little blonde lay on her belly just in front of her fireplace, her face cupped in her hands and her crossed legs were up, almost touching the top of her head. She knew it would take Argo at least two full days to reach Hermione, and that even then it was still just a possibility for the older witch to actually visit. Never mind she had wrote her she was grounded, there was still the chance that the brunette really did not want to visit.

But still, she waited in hope that the girl actually decided to drop by. She had nothing she had rather do, and there was no much entertainment when her Daddy was high on elven leaves or asleep thanks to Ozian Green Elixir. She had heard the Weasleys yelling and laughing not too long ago, surely flying around, but she had never been invited, and truth to be told, she did not like flying. She had liked to fly with her mother, true, but ever since the old Potion Master passed away she had not been on a broom for longer than necessary. That was yet another thing she was teased about.

Suddenly the fireplace spurted green flames and the little blonde could not help but grin wickedly.

Before the young brunette could actually step in, 43 kilograms of Luna tackled her front and made both females fell in the soot covered fireplace. Rich, deep, happy filled laugh echoed in the small room. "Miss me, Luna?"

The blonde stared down to the girl she was sitting on. Happy tears rolling down her face. "I thought the Chimeras were going to keep you forever."

The older witch smiled up to the girl sitting on her stomach. "I thought so too… but Mama wouldn't let the Ministry have me."

The blonde tilted her head to the left, confused. "Mama?"

Hermione blushed. "Yes, Mama… it wouldn't do to call her Minerva, or Professor anymore, would it?"

The younger one smiled. She leaned down and pecked the still blushing girl on the lips. "I guess not."

The fifth year only blushed more as Luna get up and swiftly helped her to get on her feet. Coughing quietly she noticed how the blonde kept the hand she had used to help her in one of hers. "Mama said you can come have lunch with us, if you'd like."

"I'd love to."

XxXxX

**A/N: Sorry it was shorter than the last one and that I took longer than normal to post... and that the kiss was just a peck, but I have my reasons for that. Kudos to Mirany17 because, well, they know why :D **

**Thank you all for all the amazing reviews I'll received so far, please keep them coming C:**


	13. Interlude I: Shenanigans

**A/N:** For all intent and proposes this is an AU, in every and any form you'd look at it. Everything you know about HP may or may not be true in this story. I won't tell you what I've changed, because is not my style to actually explain myself in Author Notes, but I will eventually explain what those changes are within the story.

However, this IS a Hermione/Luna story of hurt, comfort, friendship and love, with mild Ron Bashing, mild Clueless(Cute) Harry and several Professors Bashing, included but not limited to Sprout, Flitwick, Dumbledore, and Snape. With a McGonagall sort of motherly figure, well more than sort of…

I've shamelessly 'borrowed' some ideas to construct my story, so you've may or may not see things you've already seen before in this kind of stories, yet I hope to be unique enough that you like it. It is my wish to be read, but bear in mind that English is my second language and I'm yet to do a single chapter without a single grammar or spelling mistake, so please, please, tell me if I'm mistaken and why so I can improve my English and writing ability.

"Speak."

_'Thoughts.'_

Warnings: Bullying, Lesbianism, Adoption, Abandonment, Trust Issues, Childish Habits, Consumption of Elven Leaves, OOC, Overall Wizarding Stupidity, Plans of Revenge.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them… I just simply play with them and give them back at the end of the day… pretty much like rented bowling shoes…

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen – Interlude I: Shenanigans**

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, come on. She won't find out."

Luna looked at her with clear suspicion in her eyes, but still entered the big fireplace next to the brunette.

Hermione smiled at her friend's concern, happy that the girl was talking 'normally' while scared, as it was Luna's habit to start talking in riddles when she was stressed. "Relax, Little Moon. We won't even be there for longer than necessary."

The blonde beamed pet name the fifth year had started calling her when they were by themselves and for a second forgot what the older girl had planned for the day. She was reminded harshly, though, when Hermione called loudly: "Diagon Alley!"

In an instant both were at the Leakey Cauldron, surrounded by the sounds of a lively magical tavern. Luna blinked amazed and allowed herself to be pulled into the masses of wizards and witches by Hermione's hand. The blonde girl had never been at the magical alley, her father always doing the shopping needed for her, so it was a real sight for the recluse girl. "Wow." It was all she could manage to murmur.

The brunette smirked ahead of her, having heard the lithe witch. She had wanted to take Luna shopping for a while now, but her Mama's stupid rules had made it impossible until now. The Headmistress was out of the Island for the day, having been called by Madame Maxim to help her fix a little problem one of the Beauxbatons' students had gotten herself into. It was then the perfect day to sneak out the house to retrieve an excited little blonde and take her to one of the places she felt more comfortable with: Flourish and Blotts.

Her Mama had told her the night before that she was not to leave the Manor, that it was okay for Luna to visit, but that she wanted the brunette home… of course that was not in the girls' plans for the day. "Let's go to Gringotts first, I need money."

The second year nodded. She did not know what that meant, but it certainly sounded fun.

An hour later a slight green Luna and a lot greener Hermione found themselves wandering the big bookshop, looking for something that could be Luna's Christmas gift. The goblin car ride had been fun for the blonde but the brunette had been reminded the reasons she liked the muggle banking system better. Most of her money was in the muggle world, so it was easier for her to have access to it, but after she had received her acceptance letter she had invested a little on the wizarding world, so she had a small vault at the goblin bank for that money.

She considered herself lucky her vault was not as deep as other, more ancient, ones were, but she hated the goblins. They looked at her with a mix of curiosity, pity, and even some kind of anger behind their eyes. Opening her account when she was eleven had been a real pain, the goblins insisting there was no chance that Hermione Jean Granger could have one. It had taken the smart girl several months between her acceptance letter and the start of term to crack them by their own legal system. She had to study hard and long all their stupid rules and books to inform them, that yes, any witch or wizard from their tenth birthday upwards, with any kind of blood status and with the money and desire to do so could open a bank account at any time and in any from, under any name or nickname chosen by the human. Thus, with no reason to say no, Gringotts had to open her account.

It still made Hermione angry to think about it.

But, they were in the Alley searching for something to buy Luna as a Christmas gift. Seeing as they had met just before leaving school, Hermione was not able to buy anything for her as she had did with Ron and Harry at her last Hogsmaede visit. Also, with her Mama busy at all times and with her grounding, she really had no time or means to buy her something.

The blonde had accepted to be given something she herself could choose, but she had thought they were going to wait until summer to actually go around to do the shopping, knowing full well that Minerva was against leaving Hermione going anywhere without an adult, excluding the Rook of course… the older woman was still a tad angry at the elusive brunette.

So, it had come as a surprise when a smiling Neenie had knocked at her fireplace asking to go shopping to Diagon Alley. When proposed her gift the first time Hermione had visited she had chosen a book, thinking that it could be easy enough to pick something cheap and entertaining, she just did not thought of how big and diverse her options were going to be.

"Hey, what about this one?" The brunette asked her as she approached her from behind, carrying a medium sized book that looked had seen better days.

Luna took it and read the cover: 'Great Mythological Animals and How to Avoid Them'. She smiled. "It's perfect." She pecked her friend's lips in thanks, as they had been doing on and off since that first time at the Rook. Sometimes Hermione would kiss her, other times it would be Luna doing the stealing, but all the time both were left happy.

The brunette smiled and puffed her chest proudly, knowing she had done something right at choosing a book from the kid's section as she had received a kiss. "Great! Let's keep looking for more books then." And with that the older girl left a confused Luna behind.

It took the blonde almost three hours to pry the book-obsessed Gryffindor from her favorite store.

XxXxX

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, come on. He won't find out."

Hermione smirked at how her own words from a couple of days before were thrown back at her. "Fine." She relented. Picking the small green pipe she put it on her lips and softly inhaled. A second after she was coughing like there was no tomorrow. "Gross!" She whizzed.

Luna smiled. That had been the same reaction her first time with elven leaves had been. The stuff was nasty the first time someone tried it, but with time one get used to the slight burn and the feeling of fire on the lungs. "You're just a baby." She mocked, picking the pipe from the still coughing girl's fingers and taking her own drag from it. "See? That's how you do it."

The brunette frowned. Elven leaves were by much the most accessible drug the wizarding community had and its use was not even limited to any age. Everybody could buy a bag of them, if they had the money to do so. Elven leaves were expensive, mostly due their demand and the years it took the High Elves to grow the plant, dry the leaves and then enchant them to preserve the magical effect they had.

Some wizards frowned upon the use of such a powerful substance, but many more were just glad the Ministry was 'marvelous' enough to leave the poor narcotic alone. Many compared it to some or other muggle drug and that was why most parents did not like their children using them… it was just beneath them. Other parents, though, thought that the drug was just that, a drug and as such was not meant to use it on regular basis.

Yet all the parents thought that children were not to use them at all, hence the sneaking around they were doing.

The use of the drug was not addictive, but the effects by themselves sometimes were. The hallucinations that followed a good smoke were happy filled ones, most of the time showing the users a tiny bit of their dreams come true, so it was really no hard to imagine that it was something her Mama would be set against her doing. She mentally shrugged. _'Oh well, what she doesn't know won't harm her.' _Taking the pipe from her friend she had another go, smiling softly when the hallucinations started taking place.

Yes, she could see why the leaves could become addictive. She took another drag.

_'I didn't think Luna was _that_ flexible! Oh, wait, is she going to lick down the- yep, she did."_

XxXxX

"I don't like flying."

"Me neither."

"Then why are we holding brooms and getting ready to fly?"

Hermione sighed. "Mama wanted us to do something outsides, remember?"

Luna nodded. "Yes, but that doesn't explain the flying."

The brunette shrugged. "Mama is so big on Quidditch that she wants me to learn to fly… so I guess I wanted you to suffer with me."

The blonde blinked. She did not like to fly because she was not really comfortable off the ground, but she _knew_ how to fly due her own mother liking the heights. Hogwarts offered a course on flying obligatory to all the students in their first year, so she was sure Hermione had taken it. But… "Did you say you don't know how to fly?"

The older witch blushed and looked down. She knew Luna would catch that. She kicked the snow under her feet softly, trying to think of something, anything to say other than the true. "I do, it's just that I really don't like it…" She winced, her voice had come way too high and nervous to actually be believed.

Luna gaped. Hermione did not know how to fly. Hermione did not _know_ something. "Oh. Dear. Merlin." She breathed. "You don't know how!"

The brunette looked at the girl with pleading eyes. Her large doe like eyes were sorrowful and filled with embarrassment and pain. "I might have failed flying lessons." She admitted in a small voice.

The blonde almost fell from the shock. That was just impossible to do. Even the dumbest kids were able to pass the class, it was easy enough. Just show up, mount a broom for a couple of minutes each class and you were set. "How?" It was all she could think of.

If it was possible, the fifth year's blush deepened. "I might have skipped the classes after the third lesson. Stupid broom kept hitting me." She mumbled, but it was easy for Luna to understand her. "Mama didn't like it." She added regretfully while unconsciously rubbing her just recently healed derrière.

Luna could not help it. It seconds she was on the floor, laughing so hard it was a miracle she had not produce an avalanche somewhere in the mountains. "Oh, Merlin! I can't believe it!"

Hermione pouted. She was not sure why she had asked Luna to join her in her fruitless attempt to learn to fly. She wanted the company, sure, but she had thought the girl could be a little more supportive with her broom problems. She sunk onto the recently fallen snow with her arms crossed and prompted her lower lip to tremble. It was not long before the thick tears started rolling down her cheeks. "Meanie!" She whined to her friend.

The blonde stopped laughing in an instant. The brunette was not prone to crying, she was the one supposed to comfort, not being comforted. "Hermione?" She asked tentatively.

The older girl just whimpered while inside she was laughing. She knew that taking acting lessons back at primary school would help her in life. She prompted her tears to fall with more vigor, throwing a silent charm to keep them flowing in big, fat, drops. With little thought she let herself lay flat on the snow before curling into a small ball with her back facing the other girl.

Luna gasped, not knowing what had made her friend so sensitive and so, well, childish. She saw with not small panic that the girl's shoulders were shaking. Maybe the flying thing was much more of a sensitive subject for the brunette. "Neenie? I'm sorry." She said softly.

"No." The other girl whined again but there was something more in her voice.

The blonde blinked. That actually sounded like laughing. The shoulders shook with more vigor and she could sworn that she head a small giggle coming from the older girl. Frowning, she finally understood what had happened. Silently, as to no alert her, she bended down and scooped a handful of snow in her hand. Snow in hand she inched closer to the shaking girl and throw the snow down the brunettes back, insides her parka.

Hermione's reaction was instant. The shaking stopped and she became rigid in surprise, turning to lay on her now cooling back. "Cold! Cold! Cold!" She chanted under her breath. It was not overly uncomfortable, but it did was cold enough for her to, well, freeze at the surprise.

Luna chose that moment to let another handful go insides the front of her friend's clothes, making the older girl gasp again. She had noticed that the cold did not bothered Hermione much, so she felt no guilt of what she was doing. "You're an ass." She muttered.

The fifth year simply smiled, the cold now barely noticed. "Yeah, but I'm a cute ass."

The blonde snorted. Yes, she was a cute ass. "Fine, Miss Cute-Ass, are we flying or not?"

The brunette stood up and helped Luna do the same, stealing a peck from the other girl's lips. "Yeah." Looking at the younger girl she blushed again. "Could you teach me?"

Luna smiled at both the kiss and the cuteness of her friend. "Of course I will." After all, the broom would not been hitting _her_.

XxXxX

**A/N: So this was an Interlude kind of chapter, meaning that the story could be read without adding it to it... but I kinda liked the little interactions between them :D**

**I have two questions for ya:**

**1. I'm going to bring Draco and Harry in this story and I'm not sure with whom I'll be pairing them. They could be together, I like the pairing enough, or not. I really don't know who to pair them with, so suggestions would be very welcome.**

**2. Is there a short name for Harry? I really can't find it in my self or in internet to have a pet name for Harry. Neenie I borrowed from the Danger-verse and Little Moon, well, that was obvious, although I'm not sure if there was someone before me using it. Help with a badass/cute nickname for out Boy-Who-Lived?**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing. Please let me know if you are liking this or not :D**


	14. Going Back

**A/N: **I'm kinda tired of putting my disclaimers and warning here, and seeing as they don't really change from here on, well, to see them go back previous chapter.

I haven't gotten as many reviews helping me as I was hoping, if you have a nickname for Harry or if you don't want him and Draco together, please tell me. Hare I like it, tell me what you think.

On an after thought I'm kinda loosing steam with this story... is there anything you want to see?

**Chapter Fourteen – Going Back**

"Robes?"

"Yes."

"Potion kit?"

"Yes."

"Quills?"

"Yes."

"Owl?"

"Yes."

"Underwear?"

"Really? Yes."

"Wand?"

"Ye- No."

"Ha, I told you you'd forget something." The older woman cheered.

Hermione sighed. "Yes, Mama." It was the very first time she had forgotten something and her Mama was simply enjoying knowing she was right.

She was little sad that Christmas break was over. Over the three weeks that they had been away from school she had become used to have Luna and her Mama by her side, and although she would be living with the little blonde starting next term, she knew she would miss being with her Mama at nights, simply reading or discussing magic.

She would miss calling the older witch Mama too.

"Why would you forget your wand?" The Headmistress wondered out loud while closing the school trunk and shrinking it to put it her coat's pocket.

Hermione shrugged as she gathered Argo. She had gotten so used to use wandless magic around the Manor that her wand had been pretty much forgotten in her room… but she was banned from using magic around the house so she was not going to inform her stern parent about that.

"Are you sure you want to take the Express? We can always apparate to Hogsmeade."

The young brunette shook her head while fastening her wand holder at her arm. Another Christmas present she had received. "I promised Luna I'd sit with her… and I'm scared that someone would hurt her."

After her Mama had allowed her to visit Luna the two witches had spent most days together, either at the Rook or at the Manor. They had done the blonde's homework in less than three days, as the younger girl was highly intelligent, just not used to do any kind of assignments. The list Professor Lupin had given them via her mother had been quiet helpful and not very complicated, and had allowed them to do all the second year's work rather fast. They were currently working on bringing up date the girl in her other work, but seeing as it was already too late to hand it in, they were not focusing too much on it.

They had also talked a lot. They had told each other secrets, fears, dreams. They had talked about what they wanted to do in the future and what were their very best memories from their pasts. They had talked about their parents: Luna about her dead mother and lovely father, Hermione about her Grandmama and her now Mama. The more they talked the better Luna expressed herself, and the better Hermione understood when the younger girl talked all 'funny'. In some of their chats they had also talked about school, and the horrible things many students had done to the little Claw.

Physically the worst they had done to the girl was to force her to wear skinny clothes by stealing all her other ones and banned her from the Tower almost daily. While it had lifted a weight from her shoulders knowing they had not compromised the girl's innocence or health in ways that cannot be mended, it had worried her enough to make her vow to do everything in her power to avoid any more harm to the one she considered her very best friend.

Minerva stopped all motion and looked at her daughter, knowing full well what kind of thoughts ran amok her head. She was glad when Hermione had chosen to confide in her what kind of things happened in Ravenclaw and in the second years' classes, but sadly she could do nothing without proof and support from the girl's Head of House. It was her hope, though, that the girl would now have a better time as she would no longer live in Ravenclaw Tower and would have Hermione as a friend and mentor. The girl was now an ex-Claw, so maybe in this new term she could do more for her.

"Let's go, then." The Headmistress finally said. "Or we'll be late."

"Yes, Mama."

XxXxX

"Slow down, Moon Moon. We still have time."

Luna huffed. Her Daddy was still confused thanks to several cups of Ozian Green Elixir he had consumed the night before, and they were running a little late. It was nowhere near to eleven, the train's departure time, but it was already way past nine, the time she had agreed with Hermione to meet. "Daddy!" She whined. "A Nargle is waiting for me, please, hurry!"

The old man's eyes bulged. "Why didn't you said so?!" He said before practically picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder, hurrying into the busy station.

The little blonde sighed. Leave it to the man to actually _run_ when he finally understood Hermione was waiting for her. Xenophilius had taken well to her relationship with the brunette, going so far as to invite the fifth year to live with them. Hermione was delighted, and a little confused, about that, but she had declined, claiming she wanted to spend time with her new mother and making her Daddy pout for days afterwards.

"Now, Moon Moon, remember to wash your left foot and to throw salt behind your right shoulder every other night." Her father said once they had reached the Express, but before he had put her down.

"Yes, Daddy." She looked around from her high spot and saw many familiar faces. It was still early enough that there were not many children around, but the ones there were already whispering about her and making pranking plans. Especially those from her House.

'_Former House.'_ A voice that sounded too much like Hermione remained her. One day Minerva had explained both the girls why Luna's robes and tie had not changed colors. While it was uncommon for it to happen, in Hogwarts' history there had been times where a student was not welcome in their house. It was not that the girl, or boy, had not been properly sorted, but that the student was no compatible with the people and beliefs that lived in the house at the moment.

Almost always the student got accepted after a period of time, but seeing as Luna was teased and bullied within her House, it made better sense to simply remove her from a place the three witches knew she did not belong. She knew the Headmistress had planned on letting her have her own quarters, very similar to Hermione's, but the brunette witch had offered to share with her and she was more than happy to do so.

"Hello, Mister Lovegood." A sweet voice called from the entrance of Platform 93/4 and made Luna smile.

"Oh, hello, Miss Nargle!" The loud voice of the older man echoed in the somewhat busy station as he let his little girl down.

"Hello, Miss Lovegood." The brunette bowed to the younger girl.

The blonde giggled, she liked when Hermione was all gentleman-y. She curtsied. "Hello, Miss Granger. Sorry we are late."

The other girl beamed at her, her smile so bright that the younger witch wondered why they bothered to have a sun. "Not Granger anymore, Miss Lovegood. And I just got here myself."

Luna beamed too, but knew better than to approach such personal matters in such public place. Instead she turned to her father and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you, Daddy. Thank you for bringing me to the Nargle and to keep me from the Wrackspurts." She was no longer a Wrackspurt, oh no, she was now something better, something more amazing. She had her Neenie after all.

Mister Lovegood simply smiled, truly happy that his little girl finally had someone she could be true with. "I love you, too, Moon Moon. Have a nice term." He kissed softly the top of blonde mop. He turned to the older witch. "You, too, Hermione, have a nice time."

The brunette hugged the tall man. "Thank you, sir. Please give my regards to the fairies at the Rook."

The man smiled, impressed by this young woman that was so at ease with the little quirks their family had. "I will." He return the embrace. "Take care of my little one." He whispered in her ear.

She stepped away from the hug, her face now somber. "I promise."

"And I thank you." The man bowed and kissed his daughter one last time before leaving the two witches to themselves.

Luna and Hermione shared a look. "Come on, Luna, let's find our compartment."

"Are we sharing?" She asked as they gathered their things to climb into the mostly empty Express.

Hermione raised an eyebrow as they boarded. "Do you want to?"

The blonde hung her head, not sure if she was confident enough to voice her fears. She had been in seventh heaven with Hermione at her side for most of their holidays after Christmas and she had gotten used to be just them, with only Minerva and her Daddy around. She was not naïve enough to consider that the brunette would be only hers while in school. The older girl had friends and she was a Prefect, so her involvement within the school body was way bigger than hers and she knew that the older witch's time would not be sorely focused on her any longer.

Sharing their train compartment would then just be the first step to get used to sharing her Neenie.

"Luna, look at me." Hermione said as they reached the last compartment of the last cart. The younger girl did as told and was amazed at the emotion she saw in the older girl's bronze eyes. "I'm not going anywhere, Little Moon." She briefly closed her eyes as the taller girl pecked her on the lips.

Luna's heart warmed at the knowledge that the brunette knew exactly what was bothering her. "I'd like to have the compartment for ourselves, please."

Opening the door for what would be their place for the next several hours Hermione simply smiled. "Then it'll be just ours."

They settled their trunks in the compartment and Hermione took out a warm blanket from the deeps of her always trusted satchel and a pair of pillows. "C'mere." She commanded softly and Luna promptly cuddled at her right, practically laying half on top the other girl's torso, leaving Hermione free to settle against both the seat's back and the window.

The blonde sighed in contentment when two long arms cradled her and the soft fabric of her favorite blanket covered them both magically. "I love you can do wandless magic." She murmured.

The brunette chuckled. "I love that I could come back."

Luna smiled. "So do I, Miss McGonagall."

"Oh, Merlin!" The older girl laughed merrily. "The papers finally came back yesterday night. I'm officially a McGonagall."

"Are you telling the school?" The little girl asked excited.

"Nah, let them figure it out the first time a Professor takes roll call." She smirked like the Cheshire Cat. "I wonder which Professor would be."

"I hope it's Snape."

"Nah, it'll be funnier if it was someone more impressionable like Flitwick or Sprout."

"What about Lupin?"

Hermione chuckled. "Nope, I reckon Mama has already told him and Professor Greenwood."

"What?" Luna sat fully to look at the older girl in wonder. "Why?"

"C'mere, you're cold." The brunette muttered and tugged the smaller girl to her, placing her in the same position she had been before. Once she had the girl in a position both were comfortable in, she answered her questions. "Mama invited over both Professors once or twice last week. They saw me there, when I asked permission to go over your house. I guess she'd already told them because they weren't as surprised to see me as I was to see them."

"Why were they at the Manor?"

"I guess Mama has friends after all."

The other girl hummed. "Are you telling Potter?"

"Nah." The brunette scoffed. "He didn't write once, and he didn't care for me at all. I may like him, but he's an ass."

The blonde frowned at the pang she felt on her heart when she heard that the older girl liked the famous Harry Potter. She knew it was a mere fraternal love, but it still hurt. "But he did go to ask me."

"Yes, about five days _after _I was taken, no?"

"More or less."

"See my point?"

She sighed. "Yeah."

XxXxX

**Please leave a review if you'd like.**


	15. Dumb Snakes

**A/N: **So I had many reviews last chapter as a Thank You I'm posting this next chapter earlier than planned. Thank you for those you left a thought, that kind of response is the one that makes me realize I'm really doing a story people like, so again, thank you.

This story is starting to lose steam because I'm currently writing chapter 37 and I'm no where near finished and I'm running out of ideas. I want to 'touch' 3 themes and so far I'm only near dealing with 2 of them, so yeah... this one is a really loooong story that has an end but is lacking many, many, _many,_ words in between its beginning and its end. That's why I'm asking for ideas of what kind of interactions you'd like to see, bear in mind I'm way ahead of the story and those should not be seen in a while, but I'll really treasure any idea you'd may have.

I was told I had less mistakes in recent chapters, well, thanks for telling me that. It takes me a while to get into my 'English' mode so, yeah, the more I write the less I can think in my mother tongue... my mom is kinda frustrated because she can't understand me when I talk :S

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen – Dumb Snakes**

"What are you doing here?"

The cold voice made him rise from the comfortable armchair he had been sitting, waiting for the lady of the house. "But dear cousin," He said with a smile. "Why such a long face?"

Narcissa glared at her most cheery cousin, a twinkle of amusement held behind her blue eyes. "You got Lucius in jail and you dare to ask that?!"

Sirius sobered up immediately, playing along with his beloved relative. "He got himself in jail, cousin. He was the one there with Voldy, attacking people left and right with his little wand and shrilly voice, so unlike his honorable son." That was the main reason he had waited until Hogwarts started to come talk to his cousin. Draco would surely get in the way as he always demanded for the Auror to chat with him or play chess. The Slytherin boy was really grateful he had sent his father to jail and the Black Heir had become his favorite role model.

The blonde smirked. She had never liked the way her husband acted, nor did she support his way of living. Sure, she was against blood mixing, but only because she knew that as more dilated the blood became the wizarding traditions and customs were more ignored and laughed at. Also, the magic within the blood became weaker as the blood was contaminated, prompting to much more cases of squibbing. She knew in her heart, though, that with her husband gone she would accept any female companion his son wanted, no matter her blood status.

"What do you want, Sirius?" She finally relaxed her act. She was glad the man had come to see her as he had been too busy catching Death Eaters to stop by and have tea.

The Auror sat again and Narcissa followed. "I went to Mother's house and came across the Family Tapestry." He started, knowing full well Narcissa's good mood was prone to vanish as suddenly as it had appeared, she could get bored quiet easily. "I came across two names I didn't know they were there."

The woman nodded. She can imagine where her cousin was heading and a not former in her stomach. "And those names were?"

"Tom M. Riddle and Capella M. Black."

"And the two are related to Bella, I presume?"

It was Sirius turn to nod. "Apparently Bellatrix married Voldemort and had a daughter with him."

The witch flinched at the use of the name she hated the most, but other than that, her pose was one of perfect control. "She did. Have a daughter with him, that's it."

The Black heir frowned. "How?"

Narcissa chuckled humorlessly, her playful demeanor gone completely. "You really don't believe I'll teach you the ways of baby making, do you?"

"I didn't mean that, and you know it. Bellatrix was married to Rodolphus."

"I know. She was simply chosen by the Dark Lord as his Lady." Narcissa sighed and looked at him in the eye, what he saw there chilled him to the bones. "What I'll tell you haven't left this house in more than ten years… I would appreciate the upmost discretion."

Sirius nodded, knowing full well that this tale he wouldn't like.

XxXxX

"What's she doing here?"

Hermione sighed at the stupid redheaded. "She's sitting, Ronald, just like you are."

The boy sneered. "I meant, why is she sitting here?"

The brunette looked at her Mama sitting at the Professor's table, waiting for the Great Hall to be filled. The older witch looked back at her and nodded almost imperceptibly. Minerva had told them that as Luna was Houseless she was free to sit wherever she wanted to, and obviously the blonde had chosen her best friend's house table.

"She's waiting for the feast to start."

As the redheaded boy reddened his face Ginny scowled at them. "Why isn't she sitting with her house? We don't want Loony here, she's crazy!"

A boy in Slytherin knocked his empty cup in the table and it did not clang, just as a girl in Hufflepuff laughed out loud only for her mouth to come with no sound. It took only a second, but all the people in the Great Hall could feel how the temperature dropped immediately and how all sound was muted. The air had suddenly become heavy and moist, and incredibly cold. For a moment the students from second grade up wondered if there were Dementors in the school, only to notice a growling Gryffindor fifth year who was practically surrounded by soft blue light.

"Don't. Call. Her. That." Her voice echoed in the room and the students and staff that had not noticed the girl were suddenly drawn to her.

Many simply blinked in confusion, some tried to whisper animatedly to have no sound leave their mouths, and others, the youngest, had their faces lighted with excitement at having the great Morgen doing any kind of mystical magic. The Professors, all of them already seated looked with both confusion and horror, while the Headmistress rose and tried to hurry to her daughter's side.

Ginny, for her part, just sat stunned, her eyes wide open and her mouth crying a silent scream of utter fear. She was seated across the older witch and could easily see, just as the Cubs sitting near, much more than the people in other tables. Hermione not only got her blue aura around that looked pretty much as cold as her eyes. Eyes that were not longer the deep brown everybody knew, but that were a dead blue, pretty much black, with specks of bronze.

Ron and Harry, siting at either side of the fourth year redheaded, could not do more than stare at their brunette friend. They both had seen Hermione like that before once, the night Voldemort fell. Both boys were conscious that it had not been normal, it had not been right, but with the euphoria of having defeated the old bastard have all but forgotten about it.

It was shortly before Ron had passed out, but Harry knew the older girl only got scarier after that. The girl's hair had gotten longer, almost to her feet, and her eyes really lost all of the bronze and most of the white. The sparkling blue that surrounded her had frozen the air around Little Hangleton's graveyard simply because the old wizard had called Hermione the name she was now referred as by most of the wizarding community: Morgen.

"Neenie?" A small whisper was heard in the ever silent Hall, making Minerva halt just feet from the brunette.

Luna's hand came to rest on the older witch's fist, which was currently clenching her fork, atop the table.

The fifth year Prefect took a deep breath and let it go slowly, letting her hands relax. With her eyes closed she turned the hand under Luna's upward and interlaced their fingers, gently squeezing her thanks. The blue aura was soon evaporated and the sound returned, just as the warm feeling that was always around the Great Hall.

Opening her eyes they could easily see that they were back to normal, but the anger behind them was still there, just not as intense as it had been before.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to lose control." It was barely muttered, but the people sitting by heard it perfectly.

"It's okay." Harry said easily. He could understand that Hermione got angry at how insensible the Weasleys were being.

"Hermione?" The stern voice of her mother made the young witch wince.

Turning to the oldest witch she kept her face blank. "Yes, Headmistress?"

"Are you alright, child?" The last word made Hermione smile, as she could clearly hear the meaning behind the words: '_Are you alright, baby?'_

"Yes, Ma'am." _'Yes, Mama.'_

The stern witch nodded and left to her place in the middle of the High Table, ready to start the term's welcoming feast.

It was not the best feast they had had so far as most students were still stealing glances to the scary brunette, and though the food was amazing like always, the sense of dread that everybody could feel simply dimmed the taste and smell of the mouthwatering food.

XxXxX

"Granger?"

The Gryffindor turned around towards the voice; her hand instinctively gripped her wand in preparation. When she saw who was talking to her, she relaxed. "Malfoy."

The blond, lean boy eyed how Hermione's hand was holding her wand tightly and he wondered what would have happened to him if the girl had attacked before looking who had called her. "Or should I call you McGonagall?"

Hermione smirked. "Not yet."

"Fine. Can I have a word?"

The older witch blinked at that. That was a new one. Usually her interactions with Draco were limited to their weekly owl letters and late night chats, they both knew the boy could put himself in danger if some of his housemates noticed that they actually talked to each other. Looking down the hallway she noticed with little surprise that there was no one in sight. She had sent Luna up their quarters ahead of her as she had wanted to visit the library for a book she was sure both of them would enjoy reading before bed that week. "Only if you drop the last name crap." She smirked.

Draco snorted. "Hermy, Hermy, who would have thought such a vulgar word coming from your mouth?"

"Don't call me that, _Coco._" She emphasized the name with a lazy drawl.

The Slytherin simply sneered at the name he hated, still wondering where it came from. "What are you doing with Loony Lovegood?" He asked directly what was on his mind knowing their time was limited and that they could spend the night teasing each other if it were not for it.

"Don't call her that!" Hermione bristled at the hated nickname, an icy wind pushing Draco a few paces back.

The wizard simply raised his hands in front his chest in surrender. And angry Hermione was prone to throw hexes and punches… he knew that fact too well. "Alright, alight! Don't call Miss Lovegood names, got it."

The brunette sighed. "Sorry I snapped… I just hate how they call her."

The blond nodded. "It's okay," He shrugged. "Just force of habit, I guess." He eyed her with caution. "What are you doing with her?"

Hermione chewed her bottom lip. "She gets me in a way nobody else had done. She's smart, funny and really powerful… I was drawn to her, as I was draw to you."

The boy scoffed. "If you remember correctly _I_ was the one who seek you and ask for forgiveness, Mia."

"And _I _was the one to have the guts to actually start talking and spending time together." That had been a strange time for them. After she had punched Draco at the end of their third year the boy had gotten his act together. Shortly after she had been dumped by both Harry and Ron the Slytherin Prince had come to her and apologized by the way he had acted since they had arrived at Hogwarts. Neither knew what had prompted the witch to listen to his apology and his reasons to be a jerk, but after a conversation that lasted hours in the Astronomy Tower they had come to an understanding. After that they admitted they did not hate each other, but for their own safety they would keep arguing and fighting in front the whole school.

It had been then Hermione that had started writing to him, asking to meet her in between classes or after curfew. Little by little they had managed to build a friendship so different from the one she had shared with Ron or Harry. It helped that now both of them were Prefects and had the excuse of their common rounds to meet more frequently, even if they could not talk freely.

The boy nodded, what the brunette had say was true enough. She indeed had been the one to start building their relationship. Maybe Luna Lovegood was a lost case as he had been? "Are you sure about her? Is she safe?"

"She's my best _female_ friend, Draco. She's as safe as it gets." She shook her head amused, loving the way Draco needed little to be comforted yet how he actually _listened_. She dreaded having this same conversation with Ron.

The boy nodded. "And I guess Potter is your best _male_ friend?" The light hurt in his voice did not go unnoticed by her.

"Did you know snakes are really, really dumb?" She asked with a loving smile at the way the Slytherin pouted. "Harry is like my annoying, yet lovable little brother, one I'd sometimes like to strangle and sometimes like to cuddle. _You_ dumb snake, are, on the other hand, my very best _male_ friend." And she was no lying. The boy had been the only one to write her as soon as she had been taken by the A.C.D. to inquire about her safeness. He had been the only one to know her parents were gone before the Ministry did, he had been the one to hold her when her fights with Ron and Harry had gotten too much to her, he had been the one who confided in her about Lucius' abuse on both his mother and him. He had been the one that had been there for her. It was a secret relationship, but she knew that the blond would forever get her back if it was needed and she was ready to give her life for him if his was in danger. They may not interact that much, going so far as to not talk for weeks, but they both knew the other would forever be around.

Draco blushed. He was still not used at having any kind of comfort from another other than his mother, so it was nice to have a female friend that actually liked him. "Blood is thicker than any friendship, though." He could not help but argue back.

Hermione only snorted and start walking away. They had been together for far too much time and it would not be long before someone walk on them, besides her female best friend was waiting. "Then is a blessing none of us are really related, no Drake?"

The blonde wizard just let her go, he knew too that they were risking too much by talking in an open hallway, yet he could not stop himself from thinking. _'I wouldn't mind being related to you.'_

XxXxX

**A/N: Leave a review, please? :D**


	16. Living Alone

**A/N:** So yeah, I wanted to post this since morning, but I was unable to connect until now.

Kudos to theHunter89 for being my 69 follower... if you know what I mean ;)

I'm really happy, remember I'm already ahead in the story? Well, I've already reached to 100,000 words mark. If there's anything you'd like to see, just tell me.

I own nothing you may recognize.

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen – Living Alone**

"The room is a little bare, but I'm sure we can ask Sniffles to do something like she did to mine." Hermione said from their space in the middle of the bedroom. The walls were white and the bed was bare. The floor was the stony one of most of the school had.

"Sniffles did your room?" Luna asked as she opened her trunk to take out her pajamas.

"Uh, uh. Mama asked her to do my room as the one in the Manor. Do you want me to call her?"

Luna looked at her friend. "Can I stay with you, and ask Sniffles tomorrow?" Some steam left her mouth as she talked.

Hermione hummed. Luna had spent a couple of nights at the Manor and she had spent one over at the Rook. Those nights, coupled with the first nights they had met, had her discover that she truly slept better with the small blonde at her side. "Please, do. It's a cold night." She commented as response to the visible breath that came out every time they spoke.

The younger witch looked at her with a blank face. "Really?" It was no secret that Luna was the coldest people to be alive. Her hands and feet were always icy and her small size was meant to be warmed, not to warm another. She was always cold and liked to wear sweaters around her house even on summers. That made the Ravenclaw's pranks all the more cruel. Stealing her clothes and leaving her on the freezing castle was just mean.

The brunette shrugged. "I was thinking of you. I asked Mama the coldest rooms in the castle." She frowned. "We can ask her if we could move, though, if they're too cold for you."

Hermione on the other hand was always warm and got hot easily, preferring to wear as fewer clothes as possible, even in winter. She tended to cover herself with blankets as to easily uncover herself through the night. Sure she got cold as any sane person, but she always was comfortable with just her robe or a thin sweater on. She was one to warm others, and she had confided in Luna that she liked to sleep alone because she could not even sleep with Crookshanks without becoming superheated. Luna, of course, was the only exemption.

The blonde smiled at her friend. "I think the rooms are just perfect. And I like sleeping with you, you are cuddly and warm."

She received a smile in return. "And I you."

"Can we have hot chocolate?"

She was not surprised at the request as Luna had been asking her to drink it almost every time they got together. It had been a shock to the younger girl realizing that the chocolate she made was water based, rather than milk based, as she was used to, and that the chocolate she used was no powdered but more bar like. It was the way Hermione liked it as it was less sweet and Luna had come to love it since the first time she drank it. "Yes, Little Moon, we can."

"Can I have mine just barely hot?"

The brunette snorted and turned to leave the room she was sure Luna would never sleep in. The blonde had burn her tongue more than once since that first night, no matter how cool she made the chocolate… somehow Luna simply hurt herself with it. "I'll make it cold then."

"No!" The blonde jumped to her back and hung on the taller girl for dear life. "I want it hot… just not that hot."

Hermione grunted as her arms came behind her to support the little girl by her bottom, allowing her to have a free piggy back ride to the small kitchenette their rooms have. "Maybe I shouldn't feed you anymore chocolate, you're getting heavy."

The younger girl gasped. "You just didn't say that."

"What? That you're getting fat? I did." She said as she stopped in the middle the sitting room, just between the doors to the blonde's bedroom and bathroom, peeking over her shoulder to see an indignant blonde. She loved carrying the girl around, but always with a featherlight charm on. She was indeed heavy.

The second year gasped again and leaned forward so her mouth was even with the older witch's ear. "Then I'll have to make you eat your words." She whispered in it.

The brunette shivered at the warm air at her side. "Yes? How do y- argh!" She was interrupted when a wet tongue was suddenly licking inside her ear. "Luna, gross!"

The melodious laugher of her friend was halted by the amused voice that echoed from their sitting room. "Am I interrupting something?"

The girls looked at the older witch sitting comfortably in the armchair in front of a going fire. The woman was curled comfortably with one of the books Luna had learnt were Muggle fiction stories. Luna let herself drop form her perch on Hermione and both girls blushed. "Hello, Ma'am." She said softly.

"Hello, Luna." She nodded and smiled at the little blonde and her daughter. "Hello, Neenie."

"Hello, Mama." Hermione simply sighed, now truly resigned about the embarrassing nickname. Both Luna and her mother called her that, and, by a stupid turn of fate, all the house elves in Hogwarts called her that thanks to Sniffles… and the house elves were a little too enthusiastic when it came to make her happy in the castle, even if there were other people around. It would not be long before the rest of the school knew about it, she believed.

Luna sat in the loveseat, the farthest from the Headmistress, leaving the fifth year to sit in between them. "Would you like some chocolate, Ma'am?" She asked innocently.

The recently seated brunette just grunted in acknowledge and got up again, heading to the kitchenette. "Do you want some, Mama?"

The Headmistress chuckled, truly amused at how whipped her daughter was. "Yes, please, Neenie."

"Two chocolates, center of the sun hot, coming up, then."

The blonde blinked confused before storming to follow Hermione. "Hey! What about mine?!"

This time Minerva actually laughed.

XxXxX

"Wake up, Neenie. Two."

Hermione groaned and turned face down. "Not you too." She muttered.

Luna laughed from besides her and slapped the older girl's ass. "Your mother gave me permission to do everything in my power to get you up on time."

The brunette jumped from the blow. It was just her luck that the two most important people in her life were so _cheery_ when it came to make her miserable. "I always get up on time." She groaned, truly pained at thinking on actually functioning this early.

"Maybe," The younger conceded. "But it's fun to wake you up."

"How long before breakfast is served?" She burrowed in the covers, knowing that a rested Luna was prone to raise with the sun… just another contrast between them that made their friendship work.

"Two hours." She hummed, not telling the girl that it was only Sunday and that they were not really needed until later. They could even reemerge until noon!

"What?!" The fifth year bolted up, sitting herself to face the younger witch. "Why would you wake me at five?!"

"The sky is awake, and so I am." And it was fun to see an annoyed Neenie.

The brunette sighed and took a sip from the bottle at her bedside table, the same bottle that Luna had seen in both her room at the school and at the Manor before letting herself fall to the bed again, settling in her stomach. "It's not seven, so_ I_ am not." Then she frowned looking at the plain dark sky at the other side of her window. "And the sky isn't either."

Luna let herself drop a top the other girl's back, prompting another grunt form her. "I want to see when the sky is awake at least once."

Hermione sighed, already half asleep. "I promise I'll take you see the northern lights someday." She rolled so she could wrap her arms around the younger girl, who had fallen from her at the movement. Squeezing her to her chest she kissed the top of her blonde hair. "Go back to sleep." She pleaded.

Luna simply smiled and cuddled back into the older girl's arms, one hand came to rest at the fifth year's breast and other found its way to her mouth. "Go'night."

Hermione didn't answer. She was already fast asleep.

XxXxX

"I don't like it, mate."

Harry groaned. He had been listening to the boy's rant for over an hour now, and he was getting frustrated. He could relate to Hermione, Ron was simply stupid most of the time.

The Red Trio, as they were referred now Harry, Ron and Ginny, mostly because Golden was already in use and two of this new trio were redheaded, were seated in front the fireplace of Gryffindor Common Room, surrounded by the warmth only a nice fire and good company provided. For the most part.

They had just returned from breakfast, after waiting for the usually early riser Hermione to accompany them for almost half an hour before deciding that the girl was not coming anytime soon. The brunette was usually the first up and the last to bed, so none of them really knew exactly at what time the girl went and came from her dorm. They were still waiting for her to come down the stairs as they needed some last minute help with their holiday's homework.

"She's been avoiding us all since the weekend before vacations, and she's been spending her time with Loony. She didn't even send gifts at Christmas!"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "If you don't remember, she was taken to the Ministry as soon as she got off the train. She couldn't have sent gifts."

Ron dismissed him with a firm wave of his hand. "That doesn't matter, mate. She's been acting odd."

"Yeah, she's been acting weird since you won the Tournament, but lately, she's just plain strange." Ginny nodded her head. She had been beyond furious at the older Gryffindor since she had scared her in the Great Hall the night before.

Harry frowned. "She'd been acting that way because we killed Voldemort."

Ron snorted. "I was there, mate, you were there. We aren't acting any different, are we?"

The black haired boy frown deepened. He had spent most of the holidays thinking on his smarter friend. Hermione had changed, yes, but so had them. Ron was more confident than ever, but he was also extremely cruel to the people he considered beneath them, which amounted to just everyone, really, especially the younger years. The redheaded had gotten bigger in his head and it was sometimes hard to be with him without feeling revolted. It was a true blessing he was no Prefect.

Harry himself had changed. The boy was no longer awkward in large crowds and he was no longer trying to go unnoticed by everybody. He also found himself noticing little things her had not noticed before, like the haunted eyes that many of his classmates from Slytherin had, or the tensed shoulders of the people when he was around. He also noticed something just cold behind Hermione's eyes every time he looked at her.

"We've changed, Ron." He said somberly. "Killing Voldemort changed the three of us, mate, just not 'Mione."

The redheaded boy was about to counter his friend when a sleepy eyed Lavender Brown came down the stairs leading to the girls' dorm. "Hey, Lavender!" He said instead. "Is Hermione still asleep?"

The girl looked at him with a confused face and actually blinked several times, trying to clear her head. Did the boy have actually asked what she thought he had asked? She was saved from answering when an equally sleepy Parvati appeared besides her as Ron got restless and asked the tanner girl the same question.

"Are you talking about Hermione? _The_ Hermione Granger, right?" Parvati asked with the same look of bewilderment as Lavender.

Ginny frowned as Ron blinked stupidly. "There is no other Hermione." She said just a little snobbishly. Well, a lot snobbishly.

Lavender and Parvati exchanged a quick glance. "We thought you knew." The blonde said.

"Knew what?" Ron asked confused.

"That Hermione stopped sharing with us after fourth year started." Parviti easily said.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked them just as confused as her brother.

Both girls sighed. "Just that," Lavender said exasperated. "The last weekend of November her things were gone."

"We thought for a moment that she was expelled, or something worse," Parvati continued. "But we saw her on class on Monday, so we knew it was not the case."

Lavender shrugged. "Apparently, McGonagall had offered her her own rooms because she is the highest score in the whole house since third year, but she had been declining that right for months."

"But," Parvati frowned at them. "After the two of you practically tore her to shreds because that stupid Tournament she accepted and moved out as soon as possible."

Ron scoffed. "That can't be right. Hermione'd tell us if that was the case, besides, we see her every day, she's always aroun'."

Lavender sighed again. No wonder Hermione stopped hanging out with this lot, they were dumber than Crabbe and Goyle, _together_. "When was the last time you'd seen her doing her homework here? Or simply hanging at the Common Room?"

The trio seated stared at the fire, trying to remember. Hermione was usually at the library, and they had to go look for her there if they wanted help with their homework. They always saw her down at the Great Hall for meals, but they never walk with her there. Ron and Harry remembered how Hermione would practically steal a table for her own use at the Common Room up to third year, but after they got mad at the girl for her usual concern over stupid things, especially over Harry that was going to compete at the Triwizard's Tournament, they had stopped seeing her. They both had thought the girl was avoiding them and they were happy for her to do so, and they just simply did not question it when Hermione chose to keep doing her work at the library after they had forgiven her.

"I can't remember when that was." Harry whispered brokenly. Had he really been such a horrible friend for the brunette? Had he been blind not to notice the girl's absence?

"That's because she's been living alone since then. She has her own rooms to do as she pleases." Parvati told them quietly. She knew because her sister, Padma, was the best student over at Ravenclaw and her twin was offered the same living arrangements by Professor Flitwick. Parvati had been green with envy for several weeks until her sister had invited her and Lavender over. That was now the place that the girls hung out with the Claw and her friends. It was quieter than a Common Room and allowed them to do practically anything they wanted. It was even decorated to Padma's tastes!

"Why would she like to live alone?" Ron asked confused. It was just something foreign for a boy who had grown up with several people around at all times. "That's too lonely."

Lavender groaned. It was not even nine and she was already asked to have an actual conversation. "Vati and I like her enough, but we know she doesn't fit with us. We liked to talk until late at night and she got annoyed easily with that, so, even though we _do_ like her, we understand she likes to be by herself, in a quiet place, with nobody bothering her."

"But why?"

Parvati shrugged. "Maybe is a Muggle thing." Both she and Lavender were pureblood, and both were raised in a magical home with people coming and going all the time, so maybe it was a Muggle thing.

Lavender echoed her friend's shrug. "Or maybe it's a Hermione thing. Either way, she won't be coming down that stairs anytime soon." She looked at the seated trio. "Now, if you excuse us, we'd like to eat before breakfast is over." She marched to the Tower entrance and the tanned girl followed her.

"We'll tell Hermione you are looking for her if we see her." Parvati called to them as the two witches disappeared from view.

**A/N: Leave a review if you'd like.**


	17. New Name

**A/N: **Sorry I did not posted yesterday, my mom was diagnosed with cancer on Thursday, and seeing as we, she and I, live alone in my city, I had several visitors all Friday and Saturday wanting to see how she was coping, so, yeah, being near a computer was a big no-no those days.

On other note, I want to apologize if this story is too slow. It kinda has a mind of its own and while I try to keep the chapters short so I can somewhat organize my thoughts, know that I'm as desperate as you to see something a little more substantial.

The main point of this story is to see how they grow into the lovely women they are and how they grow to each other, it is focused in their relationship and the way it affects others. I'm currently stuck writing Chapter 40 as I'm really, really bad at certain kind of scenes, but I'm trying to do my best.

Thank you all you left a review, know that they make my day and right now I really need this little things. I write to loose myself into my mind, so I guess I'll keep writing for a long while.

Sorry I kept you from reading what you came to read. Enjoy the chapter. :D

I owe nothing.

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen – New Name**

Sirius sat at his desk, even though it was Monday and the sun had yet hours to set, he needed time to think and this was the best place he knew to do so. The Auror department was empty save a couple of unlucky souls that had been assigned the early morning watch.

But that was fine by him. He needed to understand what had happened at Malfoy Manor. Narcissa had been inconsolable for hours after she had told him her tale and he had confided what he knew to her. The usually composed woman had cried like never before and it had taken any doubt out of him about the veracity of the tale, a tale so impossible that it had to be true.

They needed to investigate what had happened, to find out exactly were their stories diverged. They needed to be discrete, yes, but they could not hope to fish for answers without actually telling people about their secret.

The name Narcissa had told him, though, was a name he had heard before, he was sure of it, but he just could not really say where. It was uncommon enough but at the same time well known. Maybe he was just imagining things, though.

"Oh, Merlin," He groaned. "What a mess."

A soft thud at the window got his attention. It was a brown owl, tapping at the panel to be let inside. He smiled as he recognized Romulo, Remus' owl. Getting up he let the owl in and took the letter from its leg. He was about to start reading when a sudden thought crossed his mind.

'_Maybe Minerva would let me investigate.'_

The man smiled, it was as good plan as any.

XxXxX

"I really wish we could sleep all day long."

"I wish it too, but we want to graduate, right?"

She whined. "I still have more than five years to go!"

Hermione murmured absentminded as she fixed her tie before the mirror. "Six years fly by."

Luna glared at her. "No, they don't."

The brunette met the younger girl's eyes on the mirror's reflection, seeing the barely suppressed anger behind them. The little blonde was sitting in her bed, hair tussled and only wearing her school blouse and a pair of panties. She sighed and turned to her partially done tie, finishing it and letting her eyes roam over herself, looking for any sign of wrinkles in her perfectly done uniform. "No, Luna, they don't." The older witch turned to the girl, whose blue orbs were now looking down, a sad frown marring her face. Sitting besides her she patted the wild hair and kissed her softly on the temple. "Come on, love, let's get you dressed."

Letting herself being tugged, Luna was on her feet instantly. She stood still as Hermione undo her blouse as it had been buttoned up wrong. She saw how the delicate hands of her friend did button by button, making sure the blouse got unwrinkled in the process with her wandless magic. She was left alone for a second when Hermione went to fetch her skirt and socks, her normal, grey ones. Using the older girl's shoulder to balance herself she lifted on leg, then the other, as the brunette placed the skirt in place. The other witch made the series of buttons at its side, ensuring that the blouse was properly tucked in its waistband and without noticing it Luna's thumb easily found its way to her mouth. "I'm soddy I go' ma'." She mumbled, tears gathering in her eyes.

Hermione rose from the place she had been crouching at her side. She silently hugged the girl to her chest, kissing her softly at the top of her head. "I'm sorry too, love."

Deciding that Luna's sucking would interfere with the rest of her dressing process, the brunette simply got the girl seated in her dressing table and, taking her heavy wooden brush, started combing the silky flaxen strands that she loved. She stayed quiet, not looking at her friend's reflex on the mirror and promptly ignoring the falling tears and the sniffling sounds she made.

She knew full well what had gotten the girl so upset as she also knew that there was nothing she could tell her to make her feel better. Six years. Six years today, since Selene Lovegood had died. January the eight was simply not a good day to sadden her little friend, as it was the date her mother had had her potion accident.

Hermione had talked without thinking; the girl was simply trying to distract herself of the date with her whining. Luna had been acting strange since they had woken up about an hour ago and it had taken her two minutes to remember what Mister Lovegood had told her once over the holiday. Somehow they had been left alone in the kitchen at the Rook, and he had made small talk with her, a strange chat that had finished with his revelation of Selene's death.

The fifth year was good with dates, and she had known since Luna's father told her about the accident that the first day of school would be a rough one. It would be the first day they would need to stay apart for most of the day and it was also the anniversary of Selene Lovegood's death, so it was no surprise when Luna had woken as restless as a small kid on edge of a big tantrum.

The blonde had refused to take a bath to start the day. She had refused to let the older girl off the bed for almost half an hour, making them a little too late. She had started whining when asked to dress herself _properly_ as she had chosen to wear pink mismatched socks, the black skirt that was only worn on special school functions, a short sleeved blouse, opposed the required long sleeved one for winter, and a purple bow tie, wherever she got that from. The brunette actually had to scold her for ten minutes before she undressed herself and made a half-hearted attempt to dress herself properly.

Luna's lengthy hair made for a long task, but both witches relished on the soothing action as the older girl gently untangled and braided the hair in a low bun. Once the bun was done Hermione let her hands rest on the seated one's shoulders. "Done." She gently squeezed her. "Let me get you dressed, love."

The blonde nodded and rose. "'orry." She mumbled before letting her thumb fall from her mouth.

Hermione stood before her and cupped her chin, as she had done every time the girl had burnt her tongue. "Never again, Luna, apologize for feeling." She smiled softly.

"But…"

"I've told you that I'd never got mad for something that makes you happy… or at least makes you less sad, okay?" She said as she embraced the girl again, knowing full well that she was trying to apologize for the sucking.

Luna sniffled and melted onto the hug. "I'm being a brat."

Hermione chuckled softly. "You are always a brat, darling. And I love you because of it."

The blonde laughed quietly. Stepping a little from the lose hug she smiled at her friend. "Thank you."

The brunette returned the smile and swiftly pecked her friend on the lips. "You are very welcome." Pecking her again before she let her go, she smiled softly. "Come on, we have less than an hour to have breakfast and get you to class."

"Yes, Neenie."

XxXxX

"Hey."

"Hey yourself."

"We didn't see you at breakfast."

"Uh. I got up later than usual."

Harry's eyebrow rose at that, knowing full well that Hermione was the last person to be late just because she slept in. "Are you okay?"

Hermione smiled. She was not, but the boy did not need to know that. "Yes, I am. Thank you for asking."

The Boy-Who-Lived-Twice winced. He knew their relationship had gotten to the point where they were little more than acquaintances, but he had hoped that could change, especially after Hermione had told him she liked him, just as he liked her, like the sister he knew would always be there. He wished for them to be friends, real friends, again, because as much as they liked each other, he needed her near and it had taken him little more than a year to finally acknowledge that fact.

"Mione," He started softly. "Can we hang out later?"

The brunette looked at him confused. Since when Harry wanted to spend time with her? "Sure?" She asked hesitantly.

"I-" He was interrupted when Ron came running through the door, just under a minute before the class was scheduled to start.

"Hey, mate!" The redheaded promptly sat in between them, rushing to take out his quills and parchment for class.

"Heya, Ron." Harry muttered, just a tad annoyed that he had interrupted his time with Hermione.

The witch stared unimpressed at the mess the boy managed to do within a couple of seconds. "Good morning, Ronald."

The boy paused a second, just enough to give a stare of his own to the girl. "Granger."

Said girl scoffed. "Really? Are we back to last names?" She so wanted to tell him he was using the wrong, that that was not her last name and that he needed to use the right one if he was to start calling her that way. But, she also did not want to miss the chance to stun _everyone_ once Flitwick started the class in any second now.

"I don't see how I could call you anything but since you decided to leave Gryffindor's Tower without telling us." He said sniffling.

Hermione smirked, truly amused that he thought his outrage would affect her. "And it took you, what, year and a half to notice that little fact?"

Ron was not allowed to show his anger as that was the moment the Charm's Professor chose to enter the Parliament like classroom. "Good day, everyone." The tiny man said cheerfully. "I hope everybody did their work and enjoyed the holidays!"

All around her the students greeted the man, but she stayed quiet. She hated the man with a passion she did not know she could actually have. Not only did the man have made her Luna suffer for almost two years, but the stupid man had not even defended the girl to stay in her House. He was so oblivious of everything that happened around him that it was sickening. Her Mama had even told her with a scowl on her aging face that the tiny Professor was actually _glad_ to be ridden of the little blonde.

"Brown, Lavender."

"Here."

The brunette could do nothing but wait patiently, to see if there was someone, anyone, that would notice that her name would be skipped right after Goyle and just before Daphne. Surely someone, be it Gryffindor or Slytherin would be intelligent enough to notice it, right? It damped her mood slightly that Draco already knew of her new name status, as it would be amazing to see his shocked face, but she was not comfortable keeping secrets from her blond male friend.

"Goyle, Gregory."

"H-Here."

"Greengrass, Dapne."

"Here."

Hermione looked around, it looked that nobody noticed it. Not even the Professor, though Draco did gave her a slight nod of his head. Well, she was kind of expecting that. But, was Harry looking at her at the corner of his eyes? She turned to him, surely enough, Harry had noticed.

"Malfoy, Draco." She smiled at her raven haired friend.

"Here." Harry frowned at her.

"McGonaga-" And there it was. The man had noticed. She saw with barely contented amusement as the tiny thing looked at his parchment and then looked at her, clear disbelief written in his face. She raised an eyebrow and he gulped. "McGonagall, Hermione."

"Here."

Later on she could have sworn that the breathing of the ghosts could be heard in the silence that that simple word had created. Her firm 'here' was all it took for the usually composed Charm's instructor to actually sputter and fell back from his small pile of books and earn a quick trip to Madame Pomfrey. That word was all it took for the rest of the students to look at her like she had grown another head and several more limbs.

She simply smirked and let the temperature drop to match the stunned feeling the room was in. Oh, goody, this class would certainly be amusing enough. Maybe there was something wrong with her… she was enjoying this way too much.

XxXxX

By lunch time it was all over the castle. There was no student, Professor, portrait or ghost that did not know that Hermione Jean Granger was now Hermione Jean McGonagall. The brunette was having a really frustrating day after the amusement she had had over at Charms, the entertainment of having a new name was over.

Everybody wanted to know how in the world the old Headmistress had wanted to adopt a child that could possibly be the woman's granddaughter. And while the students wondered how the smart girl would want to live with the unfeeling woman, the staff was wondering how they did not know about the girl's situation and were not allowed to fight for her guardianship.

It was then an awkward time for the young witch when Professors Flitwick, Sprout and Vector had wanted to talk to her after their classes, which were in fact the only three classes she had before lunch. The three of them had asked her about her situation and if she was certain that Minerva would actually be the best fitted to be her new mother. It just angered Hermione to the point that she had almost yelled at the Arithmancy Professor to shove her opinions deep in her ass.

But she was Hermione McGonagall, so she was able to tame that impulse.

By dinner time she was both nauseous of all the crap that was being thrown at her and the constant questioning of the staff. Luckily for her, her afternoon classes were taught by Professors Lupin and Greenwood, so she at least had a little breath room and only had to hear the whispers and comments of her confused classmates and the ever following ghosts and gossiping portraits.

They all remembered the way the brunette had been escorted out the Platform by an A.C.D. employee last December, so they all knew she had not changed her name in a whim, but that she had actually been adopted by their Headmistress. The only question in everybody's mouth then was why.

"She's too intelligent for her parents to take care of her, that's why." Some would say.

"McGonagall simply wanted one of the Trio that defeated You-Know-Who, and she was the easiest to have." Others would whisper.

"She surely begged the Headmistress for a better way of life." Many believed that.

"The freak was just abandoned by her mud parents." Pansy Parkinson liked to state. She shivered at how right she was. Many were shocked that that statement had not been ushered by Malfoy, as the boy was the most outspoken when it came to his hate for the brunette. She just smiled at their ignorance.

"Are Firetrots and Silvenfoos giving you a hard time?" Hermione smiled softly at Luna's voice. She was currently sitting at the Gryffindor table, starting to make a plate of delicious dinner. That was the first meal they had at the Great Hall since the revelation of her name, both deciding that they could easily afford using the two hours of lunch to nap away the stress off their first day.

"I'll live." She answered as the former Claw sat beside her. She passed the plate to her friend, snorting at the face the girl made at the broccoli and carrots resting in it. "They are good for you. How were the Wrackspurts?"

The younger witch shrugged. "Nargles are nicer." She took her cup of cool pumpkin juice. Tilting it towards the older girl she toasted: "To a new name."

Hermione smiled and touched her own cup to the girl's. "To a new life."

She ignored the perplexed looks of their tablemates, they did not matter. The only ones that did were the lithe blonde drinking at her hearts content and the stern woman that overlooked them from her throne at the High Table.

* * *

A/N: Leave a review if you'd like?


	18. Nightmares

A/N: Sorry about the delay, I was a little busy going all around the city collecting the signatures my mom's treatment needs (my country's social health care is sickening, although without it we wouldn't be able to afford the treatment).

Also I'd like to ask you to go easy on me on this one... I'm crossing my fingers I don't loose many readers once this is done, just remember I'm trying to portrait a emotionally handicapped duo, and the way they help each other heal.

I was told I'm making sometimes Luna a second year and sometimes a fourth, please tell me where I was mistaken as Luna is a second year in my story. The characters (the important ones at least) are as follow:

6th: Cho, Cedric, Marietta.

5th year: Hermione, Draco, Harry, Ron, Neville, Daphne (Practically all the canon ones).

4th: Ginny (Because of CoS)

3rd: I haven't even think about it.

2nd: Luna ;D

So, without further ado, please enjoy!

I owe nothing except my plot, somehow.

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen – Nightmares**

_They were there, she was sure of it._

_She could hear their laughter, their mocking. Their thirst of blood._

_There were around her, behind her, in front of her. They were everywhere. They were simply inside her._

_Blue and bronze was all she could see, though, there were simply no faces but there were voices, all of them. In a way she could recognize each one of them, but at the same time they were all jumbled together, making them unrecognizable. Making her know she was trapped._

_Her chest hurt, her legs hurt. She was running as far as she could, but there was nothing but blue and bronze, not matter how far she ran, how fast she ran, she was getting nowhere. And they were catching up on her._

_'Luna.'_

_Her wings were suddenly open, letting her soar away, but there still were the laughs, the mocking, the hurt, the pain. She felt the stabs all around her, the tears in her feathers, the cuts on her limbs._

_There was just a small light, a small yellow light so different than any she had ever knew and she was felt as her heart soared, just as her wings were. She knew that light, she knew who was there. She smiled. She needed to reach the light, but she was not there, not now. Not then, not ever._

_'Luna!'_

_She plummeted down, her wings no longer working. Where no floor had been there were suddenly broom sticks, all of them pointy and looking upwards, ready to lance her. Ready to pierce her flesh and impale her suddenly shrinking body. She closed her eyes and for a second she was soaring… then…_

_She kept falling, falling, falling…_

"Luna!"

The blonde girl sprang from bed, her breathing hard and her eyes wide in shock. Her body shook and her eyes filled with tears, scared beyond reason. Strong arms circled her and she flinched, not knowing where she was and who she was with. It took her just a second, though, to remember her Neenie and her surroundings. She leaned into the embraced and let her tears fall, a small sob accompanying them.

"It's alright, love, it was just a bad dream."

"I couldn't reach you!" Luna cried in true pain. "They were there, laughing, and hurting me, but I couldn't reach you!"

"Shh, honey. I'm here, I won't ever leave them hurt you, I promise." Hermione kissed the top of her head and keep cooing her reassurances. "I have you, Little Moon, don't forget that."

The brunette closed her eyes in pain for her friend. She was no stranger to nightmares as they were one of the only things she was truly scared of. There was nothing worse than being trapped in your own subconscious not knowing that what you are seeing could be something true or simply a deeply embedded fear, that in the end it was the same.

Shortly after her parents left she had started having night terrors. They were the worst she had ever had, not even her childhood nightmares could ever go close to them. Dreams of death, sorrow, pain, torture. Dreams of children being killed, women raped, cats skinned, men mutilated. Dreams that made her sick and caused her to cry for endless hours.

Parvati and Lavender knew of them, as she had woken up both girls on several occasions, with both her screaming and her heaving. At first they had been few and far in-between, those terrors making her scared to sleep for at least a couple of days afterwards. But the more time it passed, the more frequent they were and the worse they became.

By the time she had gotten her own room the dreams were at least weekly, but thankfully she did not needed to silence her bed to avoid disturbing Vati and Lav anymore. By the time the Tournament's second task was over, her dreams had haunted her every other day and it had started showing on her grades. Minerva had been the only one to notice, though, she had confronted her and learned that the girl could not sleep more than a couple of hours some nights without submerging in a bad dream. After Voldemort was defeated they became a nightly occurrence and Hermione had been forced to start drinking Dreamless Tonics to sleep at last.

"Shh, Luna, love, I love you, I'm here."

The blonde shook in her lap, quivering at the feelings her nightmare had made them feel. She curled into a small ball, her thumb reaching her mouth in an instant.

Hermione sighed. She knew too well the aftershocks of such dreams. She twisted so that she could face the other girl's side of the bed and prompting a mewling sound from Luna she let the girl rest on it for a moment. The brunette reached the ever present bottle of Dreamless Tonic in her bedside table. Taking it she unclasped the cork and gently gathered the smaller girl's upper body against her, holding her sideways. With lithe fingers she started caressing the distraught blonde's forehead, easing the lines her crying created, easing her worries.

"Calm down, Little Moon, you need to sleep." She did not need to look at the time to know that they were hours away from sunrise, and although they could not actually sleep in for once, she knew that they would stay in bed as long as the little girl needed them to.

Luna shook her head, too upset to think about sleeping any time soon. She buried her face against the soft chest of her beloved friend, letting her tears stain her soft see-through camisole.

Smiling sadly the older girl started caressing the girl's cheeks and nose, letting her hand linger for a few seconds in her lips that were trying to suck the thumb she desperately needed only to continue her caressing on the girl's face and back to the lips. After a few minutes of this the blonde's breathing evened a little and Hermione started caressing the knuckles that were only inches away from Luna's nose. Taking the hand that was being sucked into one of her own she gently detached it from the second year's mouth. "I need you to sip this, love." She whispered, trying not to spook the calming blonde. She gently put the bottle's mouth onto the girl's lips and tipped it so that she could sip the tonic in it.

Luna whimpered when her thumb was forcefully removed but she sipped as she was told, only to grimace in disgust at the sour flavor that entered her mouth. She was ready to spit it when a warm finger was simply put on her lips, preventing her to open her mouth. "Swallow, honey." She was prompted softly and she conveyed if only to avoid having such foul taste in her mouth for longer than necessary.

Hermione smiled at her friend. She put her bottle on her bedside table again and swiftly corked it with a wave of her hand. Returning to her friend she started her caressing again. "Thank you, Little Love. You're such a good girl. And now is time to sleep."

The blonde blinked, her tears still falling but her frantic heart finally calming. She looked up to the girl she held dear to her heart and wondered how in the world was she planning to make her sleep after such a horrible nightmare. An image sparked in her mind, a memory she had buried deep in her subconscious that was now emerging, to taunt her, to mock her. She blushed.

The brunette raised an eyebrow at that. Luna simply did not blush unless she was being complimented or caught doing something truly –even for the crazy blonde's standars- embarrassing, but otherwise the little girl's face would remain as pale and smooth as always. Smirking, knowing her friend was as calm as she would be tonight and that the tonic she drank was not really enough to make her sleepy, she teased. "What are you thinking, you little minx?"

Luna simply blushed more and hid her flaming face on the older girl's chest, a bad move as the action remembered her of the memory that had started all this awkwardness. She closed her eyes, maybe if she did not see she would forget the image, right?

"Luna?" The brunette's voice was soft and caring, yet it held a little concern. "What's the matter?"

Detaching herself of the older girl's embrace she let herself fall onto the soft bed. She noticed how her limbs were heavy and movement was sluggish as she curled away from her Gryffindor, trying to erase bad, bad, images from her mind.

Blinking confused the older witch stared at her friend, knowing full well that the tonic she had drank had calmed her enough to stop crying and prompting her to sleep, but it certainly was not working as Hermione had hoped as the blonde was now closing her off. "Little Moon? Please tell me what's wrong?" She lay behind the other girl and embraced her by the waist.

Luna sighed, knowing full well that Hermione was getting worried over just a stupid memory. Resigned at the high possibility that her friend would be disgusted, or at the very best very shocked, she started speaking. "When I was little I used to have many nightmares. My Momma would come to lie with me and held me through the night. I was just remembering when I got really nasty ones and what Momma used to do to make me fall asleep again."

The brunette frowned. That was not so bad; she could understand that Luna had her nightmare because it had been her mother's death anniversary, but she could not think what kind of memory would make the blonde so embarrassed. "What did she do?"

The smaller girl turned to face her friend, her face redder than Hermione had ever seen. "She kinda let me suck her."

The Gryffindor blinked owlishly. "What?"

Luna's blush got to the point it was as red as a hot iron. "She used to take off her shirt and let me suck her breast like when I was a baby."

"Oh." That was all that could came from the older witch. It was a surprise to hear that, true, but she had got to know about the blonde's childhood via Mister Lovegood. She had understood fairly quickly that the girl in front of her was raised differently than most kids where and that many methods both her parents used were far from the norm. So, yes, the revelation was a surprise, but not really a shock considering who she was talking with. An idea came to mind, and before she let herself think about it, as it was her habit, she simply blurted it out. "Do you want me to?"

It was Luna's time to blink slowly, trying to understand what was happening. Her blush disappeared, knowing her friend was not disgusted, only to reappear with more force once what Hermione said registered on her brain. "What?!"

The brunette blushed too, now seeing why she always had to think before speaking. Still, she really wanted to make the girl comfortable enough to sleep as she knew too well how awful it was to try to sleep after one of her night terrors. "I don't mind, love, if that makes you feel better." Without really waiting for the other girl to say her consent Hermione sat and in a swift motion had removed her camisole, leaving her only in a pair of boxers. Snuggling again beneath the covers she faced the blonde and simply waited.

Luna smiled at her friend. And they called _her_ strange! One part of her wondered why would Hermione think it was okay to let her suck her, even Luna knew that was highly improper as Grandma Lovegood had told her so when she tried to latch on her when she was five. Other part of her marveled at the love this girl had for her, she doubted there was any other person in the world that would offer her their chest as trustily. Yet another part of her got sidetracked and asked why Hermione kept sleeping in such thin camisole when it was as cold as the North Pole in the castle, Luna was wearing her favorite pajamas, a thick, pale pink one-piece, with long sleeves and footed legs and she simply could not understand how on Earth Hermione kept warm.

But the bigger part of her, the one that was moved with instinct and emotion, was glad that her long forgotten comfort method could be used again. She knew that once the memory of the calmness that sucking on something that was not her thumb entered her mind she would have a hard time sleeping. She felt glad to have such a marvelous person in her life. "Are you sure?" She looked up timidly at the brunette. She was elated at the deep bronze eyes that looked at her with all the love and care in the world.

Hermione shook her head in amusement and reached for the girl, one arm came around her waist and the other around her shoulders. With little effort she erased the distance between them and with one of her hands she gently held the back of her flaxen head, softly urging her face towards her chest. "It's okay, Little Moon."

Luna felt tears trickle her eyes. She was both grateful and simply marveled at the actions this amazing witch did towards her. She let her eyelids drop as her lips carefully closed around a perfect tan nipple. She waited for a second and then began sucking.

Above her Hermione winced silently. Luna's lips were cold against her heated breast and the sucking, while gentle, was completely foreign to her and caused a light ache in her skin. The hand that held the blonde's head slowly started to scratch the scalp it was touching, prompting a whimper from the girl and causing Hermione shiver.

Opening a sleepy eye Luna looked up at Hermione in question, her mouth never ceasing its work. "You are cold." The brunette replied softly, not ready to admit to the girl that Luna's actions were making her tummy swirl in a good way; a _really_ good way.

Luna hummed in acknowledge, not caring that the woman resting before her was lying while yet another shiver ran through the older witch. She closed her eye and let her right arm embrace the Gryffindor by the waist and her left hand grope the unused boob, holding it as she hold it every night, finally letting her sleep consume her.

Hermione looked down at the girl with a small smile playing in her lips. Even in deep sleep Luna still sucked quiet steadily, yet a lot gentler. The older girl sighed, she had given Luna some of her Dreamless Tonic, but she had forgotten to have her own dose. Closing her eyes she prayed silently that she would not get her own share of nightmares tonight. She knew that if she had one the chances of calming her herself down were non-existent. At least Luna could sleep with a simple action. Hermione could not.

The blonde murmured something around her nipple. The small smile that had been in her lips widened to a full grin as she let herself return to Morpheus' Land. It would not matter if she ended having a night terror, Luna was happy and that was all that mattered to her now.

For Hermione, this would be the very first night in months in which she would have a dream. A very pleasant dream filled with Nargles and bunnies.

* * *

A/N: Leave a review, please?


	19. The Talk

A/N: I received less reviews for last chapter than I'd like, but then again I got no flames, which is good, really good. I knew I'd get mixed feelings for last chapter, and I was expecting that, Luna's night habit is as far as 'regressing' her as I'm going to go, so don't think this one is a AB/DL story of any sort... last scene is just prep work for what lies ahead for our lovely girls.

I want to remember you guys that is is a Hermione/Luna romantic story, they just don't get _that _together yet.

I owe nothing, enjoy reading.

* * *

** Chapter Nineteen – The Talk**

"Sirius, what do I own the pleasure?"

"Minerva. Thank you for seeing me on such a short notice."

The Headmistress nodded. "Please, take a seat."

"Thank you." The tired man let himself almost sprawl on the soft armchair the old witch motioned.

The witch smiled softly, of all the Marauders he had always been her favorite, the one always smiling, the one always looking at his own past and going onwards. Sure, the man had done several stupid things over the curse of his life, but he had been a good lad and a noble teen that turned out to be an honorable and reliable man.

"So, how can I help you?"

Sirius sighed, trying to gather his thoughts. "Over Christmas I went to the Black House and came across a surprise." He shifted on his seat, felling the interested gaze of the woman on him. "I discovered that Bellatrix had a kid with Voldemort." There, quick and to the point.

A minute passed. Then another.

Then five.

By ten Sirius was sure he had broken the stern Headmistress. "Minerva?" The old woman was sitting still in her own armchair, her eyes unmoving and the tea she had been holding at his arrival still in her shaking hands.

"W-What?"

The man sighed again. "Bellatrix and Voldemort had a child together."

The older witch shook her head, trying to understand what the wizard before her was actually saying. Once it made sense she only had one question. "How?" As far as everyone knew the Dark Lord was physically incapable of having children… and Bellatrix was mentally incapable.

Sirius smiled, remembering asking the very same question and he decided to answer as his own had been. "You really don't believe I'll teach you the ways of baby making, do you?"

Minerva blushed, knowing full well the man was mainly teasing her. "Don't be ridiculous."

The man chuckled softly before sobering up. "I came across the family's tree and there it was, a girl born from those two."

The headmistress nodded once, the Black Family Tapestry was well known by all the wizarding community as were most of its properties.

"I want to show you something." He said as he held a little vial with a clear liquid in it.

The witch eyed at the obvious memory before rising to gather her personal Pensive. "What is that about?" she asked once the little bowl was put in the table between them.

"What I know about the girl."

Minerva nodded and took the vial, silently pouring the memory and immersing herself in it.

XxXxX

_The Headmistress opened her eyes and found herself in the Malfoy drawing room, Sirius Black sitting regally before an equally royal Narcissa Malfoy, no, Narcissa Black. The woman had divorced Lucius as soon as he had been arrested. She saw with interest as the reunion began and was stunned at how the Black woman had known of the girl, yet had never said anything. She sat next to the remembered Sirius as the blonde started to tell them her tale._

"The Dark Lord chose Bella from all the eager female Death Eaters _and_ male's wives. He chose my sister because she was the wildest, both in magic and in moral. She had no trouble killing children and torturing females just for his sick amusement. She was the most devoted of all of them, of all the Death Eaters, she could have killed herself at his word.

"I know for a fact that she loved him. It was a sick, monstrous love. But it _was_ love. I had never seen my sister so, so, entranced in a man, in anyone. When he demanded Rodo to hand him his wife my bother-in-law was pleased, he was so happy that he could make the Dark Lord happy. Bella was in seven heaven. She could finally show her love how much she could do for him.

"While Bella and Rodo never had children, it took less than a couple of months for her to become pregnant with his child. The Dark Lord was pleased, he wanted to have an heir, a wizard strong enough to follow his footsteps and eliminate all the mudblood scum in England, and possibly in the whole world. He was no fool, he was old and he was losing his power and strength, and while he had several followers, over time there were more and more wizards fighting against him than alongside him. He needed to leave someone to continue his work.

"I took care of Bella during the pregnancy. I think nobody knew of the baby outsides the Inner Circle, and they were all sworn into secrecy, I guess I was forgotten because it was my sister the one having the baby and I never was a Death Eater, but I knew better than putting my sister, my childhood hero, in danger. I loved Bella, even today there's a part of me that wonder why I didn't go to Azkaban and demanded for my sister to be set free, to hold her against me, to cry with her, to take away her pain." Narcissa let a couple of tears fall from her eyes, Sirius just pretended he did not notice.

"He decided that Black was a more fitting name for his heir, and thus the baby would be named accordingly to the family tradition, somehow. Canopus Marvolo Black, that was to be his name. A powerful name, after a powerful star, a powerful family and a powerful man, or so they said. It was a real surprise, though, when the little thing came two months earlier than planned and thwacked everything the Dark Lord had envisioned for his son.

"I remember that night, it was the most awful and gross night I've ever had. Not even Draco's birth was as traumatizing. Bella had been in labor for more than a day, thirty hours of pain and cries. She had frozen at the end of that night, and we all lost hope, now we simply had to fight for the small creature's life. The temperature suddenly dropped and my sister cried, showing she was more alive than we thought. A loud wail was heard when the midwife finally got the bundle out my sister. A baby, a baby girl.

"For a moment I thought the Dark Lord would be displeased, that he would order my sister and the girl's deaths, because we were waiting a boy, a strong, powerful boy. We got a small sized, pale girl. He took the girl in his arms as soon as she was out, still bloodied and dirty and," At this the blonde paused, a frown marring her face. "He smiled. He actually _smiled_. At that time he had already lost most of his human features, so believe me when I tell you that sight was something I wish I can forget.

"Bella was confused, as we were. The Dark Lord's Inner Circle was perplexed, we had thought he was going to go mad, to demand another woman, another child, but he actually liked the idea of being father to a _daughter_. He named her instantly as his heir, the one everybody had to follow, had to protect and cherish, as he would be. She gave her a powerful name, just as he had planned, and the girl was simply his. We never knew how, but the Black Tapestry instantly accepted the girl as a Black."

"Did any of you tempered with it?" Sirius interrupted for the first time.

Narcissa shook her head. "No. Aunt Walburga saw when the name appeared. Nobody outside the Inner Circle knew until she saw the name embroidered in it. She was thrilled, let me tell you, to finally have a Black heir, seeing as Regulus was dead and you were a dishonor."

"How was that possible?"

"We never knew. It was simply there after the girl's name was chosen."

The Auror nodded, perplexed but knowing fully well that there was nothing she could tell him if she really did not knew. "Please continue."

"The Dark Lord loved her with anything he had, not even the affection he had shown to Bella came close to the utter love he showed the girl. He was hoping for a powerful leader, and he got one. The girl was really good at making things happen, she could easily vanish things and she liked to disappear on us. She had a strange fascination with the water and ice and Bella swore that she saw the girl making an icicle once. I didn't, so I cannot say, but you could almost feel the power that ran through her.

"Everybody liked the girl, too. She had a lovely smile and a habit to warm her way through all of our hearts. Did you know that Lucius actually wanted a girl? Of course you didn't. He hoped for a girl of his own, and was rather disappointed at Draco's birth, but that's another story.

"Bella was jealous of the attention the Dark Lord showed her, but at the same time, she was in love with her daughter too. That's what broke her when he was defeated." She whispered, so soft that Sirius, and Minerva, had to strain to hear her.

"What do you mean?" He could not believe what she was saying, but he had saw the Tapestry, the girl existed, and she was daughter to two monsters.

"Not many know, but Bella was there when he went after the Potters." Narcissa started slowly, not knowing if this little bit could be told as easily. "She went with him, along Lucius and a handful of other Death Eaters. Lucius witnessed everything, from the moment Wormtail revealed the safe place to the moment the Dark Lord's curse backfired. He saw how Lily Potter got in between him and her son, he saw how the Dark Lord hesitated, just for a fraction of a second when he saw the love the woman had for her child; it was long enough for her to cast a curse on him, so Bella killed her."

Sirius' sharp intake of breath interrupted for a second. "He saw how he also hesitated to kill the child, and how Bella prompted him to do so. But he hesitated too long because the Potter woman's curse was already beginning to take a toll on him and his Unforgivable was not as strong as it should have, so it backfired and killed part of him instead.

"Bella was devastated, she saw the love of her life dying and Lucius had to drag her here to prevent her of doing anything stupid, it didn't work. Bella had always been a fanatic, a true believer and a cruel woman, easy to kill and torture, but she was sane in a strange kind of way. That night she simply snapped. She blamed the girl of causing her lover's death. She said the love he professed for the girl had made him hesitate to kill a baby as small as his daughter, so, she sought retribution."

Sirius frowned. "You mean…"

Narcissa nodded. "Yes. She took the girl and left, when she came back she claimed she had drowned the girl and fired her body, so nobody would ever know that the little monster was hers. She said that it was only fair to kill the true defeater of the Dark Lord, but as she had loved her so much, it simply made her plain mad. That's what made her look for the Longbottoms with so much haste. She wanted to be captured. She needed to be captured. You could practically see the guilt and remorse in her eyes."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Narcissa looked down. "Draco was just a year old, I couldn't chance his father to be incarcerated, or me, for helping Bella and the Dark Lord." She paused for a second. "I also thought that if she was proven anymore charges she would be sentenced to The Kiss, and, even though she is a monster, she is my sister and I loved her. I don't think I could have bear knowing she died because of me."

"And the girl?"

"Why would it matter? I always took care of her, but I wasn't her mother. She was killed just at two, and as much as I still mourn her, she _is _dead."

"That isn't true." He said softly.

"Oh? Are you telling _me_ I'm wrong?" Narcissa snapped, truly on edge after revealing so much of a secret she had promised herself she would never tell. Still, a weight was lifted from her shoulders at finally telling someone something she considered her personal hell. "Me, the one who lived through those three awful years? Who mourns both her sister's and niece's death? Who still thinks that she should had defended the girl, taken her in as her own, raise her with Draco? Me?!"

Sirius blinked stunned at that. Narcissa had surely changed, she was no longer the awkward Black little princess, she was a grown woman, with scars and personal ghosts. But he knew she was wrong. "I told you I saw the Tapestry. You know as I do that the thing is enchanted to keep tabs on us, to tell us who's married who and who had what child at what time." At Narcissa's hesitant nod he continued. "The Tapestry shows mother and father dead, as well as showing that Uncle Cygnus, Aunt Druella and Bellatrix are also dead. It shows my name, blasted off, but alive, as does yours and Draco's. As does the girl."

Narcissa froze.

"Cissy, she is _alive._"

XxXxX

"Do you know what this means?" Sirius asked her, truly concerned once the Headmistress was out the memory.

"That there is a kid out there that has the blood of two of the most bloodlust wizards the history had ever had."

The man shook his head. "That may be true, but that doesn't concern me. She is a Black, Minerva. A Black by birth."

"I don't understand, Sirirus." The danger of having such a kid loose was simply too grand. Voldemort had been a truly powerful wizard, intelligent and cunning, and Bellatrix, while not the most powerful, had had true strength and dedication.

"Once a Black is born," He started, "At least of 'true' blood by two generations, it's recorded in the old Tapestry. It works to keep tabs on the family and to help determinate which Black is the next heir of the family fortune. My family's inner working is really strange and is protected by the oldest magic you can image, dark old magic, so please interrupt me if you get lost. Let's pretend for a moment Bella didn't have a child.

"There are several branches of the Black line. Mine is the First one, so I am, by blood, the family heir. As I was disowned the title and fortune passed down to Regulus and when he died it bounced back at me. I am currently the Head of House, but because my blood was stated as impure none of my children, if I had any, would inherit the title and states, instead once I'm dead it would go down the next branch of the line, ensuring the title can continue on as pure as always. With me so far? Good.

"Now, the Second branch of the family died out when I was a little boy, and the Third one dissolved at the time of my grandparents. So the nearest branch is the Fourth one, the one that bore Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa. This brings another problem, all of them are females and don't have the Black name anymore. Yet, Bella, being the oldest, is the one that would inherit the title once I'm dead. But, as she is also dead, the title would pass down to Andy, who is in a similar case as mine; because she was disowned Tonks would never have any say in the family matters when her mother dies. So, the Head of House would reside in Narcissa, which you and I know would renounce her titles the moment she received them in favor of her son.

"By that logic Draco Malfoy is the currently next heir. He is not a true Black, but his blood is only diluted by one generation, as Narcissa was a true Black. He was the only one in the next generation of my family, Minerva. Then, this girl is Bella's daughter, which put her in a direct line for the tittle after my death. But that's not everything, no, if this girl ever tries to claim her name, even if I'm still alive, then the title will pass on her, because she was recognized by the damn Tapestry as a true Black."

"I don't understand."

"Narcissa is no longer a Black for the family's magic, because she married Lucius she is now considered a Malfoy in the Tapestry, same case with Bella and Andy. Just because they are Black by birth they are the next in line for the titles… however, this girl does have the Black name in the Tapestry, which makes her the true heir of the house as I'm disowned."

Minerva frowned. "But she is daughter of Voldemort. He doesn't have the Black name."

Sirius groaned. "That's what's scare me, Minerva. The Tapestry recognized her as a Black, a true blood girl. I don't know what kind of power the girl has, but she is my family's heir."

"What do you mean?"

"That the Tapestry cannot be interfered with!" He said in true desperation. "The Tapestry recognized the magic of the Blacks in her, as it did her blood. She had to be really powerful for the stupid thing to actually allow the girl to have the Black name, even if her blood is diluted as is Draco's, no, it's worse, because Voldemort was half-blood, yet she is true enough to be the heir. Don't you see what that means?"

The older witch shook her head, truly not understanding how the man was concerned about who the heir of his family was when such a child was on the loose. Sure, it was a trouble for him, but it could be easily mended with young Mister Malfoy and the right connections. Even if he did not, he could still leave the title and fortune to his Godson, Harry, as the Magical Law allowed in special cases.

"That means, Headmistress," He said somberly. "That the girl's magic is powerful enough to overrule centuries of old, dark magic. Magic that had been layered generation by generation for many, many years. Every new Head of House is required to power the Tapestry to ensure that it works properly. Never, in the whole Black history someone had managed to overrule that magic, and we have been around at least since Middle Ages. That means that she is powerful enough to defeat any of us at any time, Minerva. It doesn't matter who are her parents, if she is tipped to the wrong side the whole wizarding community could be eliminated easily."

* * *

A/N: A little longer than usual, yet I hope you are not so confused. Please leave a review if you'd like :D


	20. Morgen

A/N: Sorry for the slight delay. Internet connection over here is have been a pain in the ass.

Thank you all that review, reading you made my day.

I own nothing!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty – Morgen**

"What do you want to do?" Minerva asked him, understanding perfectly well what the man had just told her. This girl needed to be located immediately. She was too dangerous to be left alone.

"We, Narcissa and I, don't want to make this knowledge public, but we really need to find her." Sirius smiled softly, tears gathering in his eyes. "She was elated, Minerva, knowing her nice was alive, that Bella hadn't kill her. We need to find her, for both her and the wizarding community's sake."

"And what do you have planned? We cannot surely place an Ad in the Prophet." Her voice was full of sarcasm and a little of fear.

"The girl is just a year older than Harry, if she is a normal witch she would be at Hogwarts. Or in any other school, really, but this one is certainly the most probable."

Minerva nodded. So the girl was a sixth year or a fifth year, _if_, and that was a big if, she was attending Hogwarts. "I'm sure we have no Black girl in school, Sirius."

"I know, Minerva, but the girl may not even use her birth name. Maybe we could perform an identity test or something similar to the students."

"Really? And how can we do that? Is not like I have the pretexts to go around asking for samples."

"Maybe something in class? Something that could be easily counted as part of the curriculum?"

The Headmistress hummed. "Maybe we can ask Severus to teach them the Namae Suiyaku… though it is not exactly cheap."

"The Name Potion?" A wizard's, or witch in this case, name was recorded in their magic the moment the father or mother declared the child name aloud for the first time. It was what made tricking the Goblins at Gringotts so hard as they could read the names in the magic. Even if the girl had changed her name, her true, magical one, would be easily recognized by this means.

"Yes." The witch knew Severus was familiar enough with the Japanese potion, a potion easy enough to make that even the first years would be able to do it without a hitch. The trick was getting the ingredients all the way from the Rising Sun country. That was what made the potion truly expensive and unused in the British Island.

"Thank you, Minerva, I'll pay for it." Sirius said quietly, knowing they did not have many options really.

The witch sighed. "Don't worry about it, Sirius. We really need to find this girl, although the ingredients could take a long time to arrive." She took her sup and sipped her cold tea. She then frowned. "You didn't tell me her name."

Sirius smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Her name is Capella Black. Capella Morgen Black."

The teacup that had been in the old woman's hands suddenly crashed to the floor.

XxXxX

"Morgen?"

The girl grunted awake. The Dreamless Tonic she had taken just minutes before had made her sleepiness welcome as always, but she so hated that name and the mere mention of it had her alert again. It was the original transcript of Morgan le Fey, the woman that was usually equaled to Merlin himself. The witch that had had such a hard life, filled with deception and anguish… that was the first witch to go rough, to go against the Muggles. "Don't call me that." She grumbled annoyed. She could accept everyone calling her that but Luna.

The blonde turned, her head snuggling deeper onto the taller girl's stomach where it was resting, to face the older girl. They were lying in Hermione's big bed, both exhausted after a long month of school and long hours of studying and doing homework.

It had been tiring for Hermione because the shock of her name was still fresh people still wanted to guess the reason behind her adoption. The teachers were still bothering her, annoyed that Minerva has been quick enough to snatch her, and they liked to remind the girl that the Headmistress was not the best option for her. What they could not even begin to understand was that her Mama cared for her for who she was, not because she was an intelligent, powerful witch, and that the older woman was the only one to want her _before_ things were known as opposed to the rest of them that only cared for what they could do with her.

It had been tiring for Luna because it was the first time she had to actually pay attention to what she was doing during class, and she had to stress over the class work and homework. It was also hard for her to be near her classmates and ex-housemates when they knew she no longer lived in Ravenclaw Tower. Her head constantly ached and she was tired all over, even when she was sleeping better than never on her life after the nightmare she had on Monday and eating more vegetables than ever. It helped knowing she had the brunette on her side, but it still made her nervous being near so many mean people.

Coupled with all that, Hermione still had her Prefect duties and rounds to make. As she was Prefect she was asked to tutor the younger kids and for at least three hours a week she had to sit in a designated classroom waiting for the students to come to her. Sometimes kids showed up, sometimes they did not, but she had to serve her time anyway. She had to do rounds every other night, to make sure people were where they were supposed to be. It was just tiring and taxing, for both Luna and the brunette. It was hard for the younger to be by herself at those times because she had nothing to distract her as she had not gotten to the point of being able to do her homework by herself, Neenie still had to help her focus, so it was wasted time for the both of them.

The little witch looked at the frown that was marring her friend's face. They were supposed to be napping, but the girl could not really sleep, even when she was tired beyond reason. "I didn't mean it like that." Maybe Hermione was more exhausted than she thought. A rested Neenie would have understood instantly what she meant. "I was just wondering where that name came from, that's all."

"I don't know." She mentally smacked herself for being so harsh to the girl. "That's what Voldemort called me when he saw me."

"Why?"

The brunette shrugged. "I don't know, Luna. That's just what he called me. He was surprised to see me, though, that's how we managed to beat him."

The blonde frowned. "Can you tell me what happened that night?"

Hermione grunted again. She really did not want to remember the day she helped kill a man. But little people really knew what had happened that night, so she guessed that the blonde was in all her right to ask. The Prophet was not a reliable source of information after all. "Fine, but if I fall asleep telling you you'll wait till after I wake to finish, okay?" She grumbled, barely audible… and barely conscious.

Luna blinked. Neenie was annoyed and sleepy… not a good combination. Maybe it would be better if she waited for the older girl to actually be awake to tell her. Getting up from her resting place she instead snuggled to the older girl's side, resting her head on her soft, bare breast. "Tell me after we wake up." She closed her eyes and let her thumb sneak to her mouth while the rest of the fingers grazed softly at the nipple beneath them.

Hermione just mumbled her consent, already more asleep than awake, yet truly grateful for the little time Luna had given her to order her thoughts and rest.

XxXxX

Harry watched to flames dance in the fireplace. The room was filled to the brim with people, all laughing and cheering. It was the officially the end of the first month of the new term, and that merited a big party with mead and firewhiskey, along with several kinds of snacks brought from the kitchens.

Gryffindors surely knew how to make people hung over in barely a couple of hours. That was the whole point of the party, after all, but, while the rest of the house was intoxicated, The-Boy-Who-Lived-Twice was simply sipping his glass of firewhiskey, contemplating the fire. He had heard lot of rumors concerning his best female friend and they were still swirling his mind.

He knew Hermione enough to know that most of the rumors were false. His friend was in no way responsible of her parent's death, nor she was snobbish enough to abandon them to their fate to a bunch of Death Eaters. Hermione was also not the one that had begged McGonagall to take her in, because he knew even if the girl was in need of help she was too proud to actually ask for it.

So that only left most of the worst case scenarios the students had managed to come out with. Of all of those having the brunette sold to the Headmistress was the most stupid, seconded by the belief that her parents had inherit her to the older woman. There was also the idea, which had several followers, that McGonagall had always been the girl's true mother. That one was just hard to buy it, especially if people actually stopped and looked at the pair for a second. They were as different as oil and water, and although they shared several interest and mannerisms, they were obviously not related.

The only one that actually had Harry thinking was Pansy's personal favorite, the one in which the brunette's parents had abandoned her. It was nasty and coming from a snake instantly made it a lie, the only thing strange was that theory did not come from Draco. He was acting strange since Voldemort's death, he was just different. The blond boy had been more polite, yes, and he did not professed blood purity as many Slytherin still did, maybe he had just changed, or maybe he had always been like that and was just influenced by his father. He frowned. Something about that thought made him pause and remember what he knew about his friend's parents. He knew nothing of them.

Sure, the girl had referred to them several times by 'mum' and 'dad', but she actually only talked about them when asked a direct question, like the time Lavender had wanted to know what her parents did for a living. He did not know the names, or the faces. He had never seen a photograph of Mister and Missus Granger, which he considered odd because even him, the parentless one, had some of his parents. Now that he thought of that he realized that he actually had an idea of what most if his friend's families looked like. It was common for all the kids to have at least something to help them remember where they came from, and that something was almost always a picture.

So he had no name and no face to the mystery that was his friend's procreators. Hermione never bothered to talk about her life before Hogwarts, and that was something he could relate to. There was something innate to the wizard-raised that simply compelled them to talk and talk about their families and their history for hours, always trying to outmatch the others, so there was no real secret on what kind of lives had most of the students attending Hogwarts. Only the Muggle-rised and the Muggleborn were conscious that that kind of talk more often than not could lead to trouble, and were taught not to talk to strangers about who they were or what their family did.

Although, if he was honest with himself, Hermione was a little more secretive than most and went to great lengths to avoid the 'parents' topic. He did not know what it was to have parents, but he had seen that his friends, the ones he knew had parents, were different than him. It was a small difference, but after living with so many children in such and enclosed space for almost five years now, he could see to see it: the way their eyes shone with a different kind of light, the slight fear of their parents knowing they'd done wrong, the way they tried to impress others because they were trying to impress _them_… it was subtle, yes, but something he noticed the kids he knew had no parents lacked. Neville and Susan Bones were his prime example, because they acted more like him, and now that he noticed it, they all acted like Hermione.

"Hey, mate!" A slur called to him and made him snap out of his thoughts.

"Ron." Harry sipped his firewhiskey grimacing, wondering why he still wanted to drink such an awful liquid.

The dunk redhead plopped besides him, his face as red as his hair and the unmistakable sour smell of barf coming from him. The raven haired boy wrinkled his nose, Ron surely had thrown up not so long ago. "What'cha doin', mate?" He said barely understandably.

"Thinking, Ron, just thinking." The other boy simply snored, passed out from so much booze.

Harry sighed and got up. He headed for his bedroom and smiled when the only other boy there was Neville. The awkward boy was sitting in his bed reading a book, silently trying the spells he read with the faintest movement of his lips.

"Hey, Nev." Harry whispered, knowing full well that the boy was prone to have a small heart attack if he was scared enough.

Neville did jumped alarmed, but it was not as bad as Harry had thought it could be. He smiled shyly at his roommate. "Harry, I thought you'd be downstairs."

"Nah, too much alcohol for my tastes." He replied while flopping down his bed, glad that the room's door muffled the party downstairs.

Both boys lounged silently, Neville reading and Harry thinking. After some minutes it was the latter who broke the silence. "Hey, Nev, can I ask you something?"

Neville lowered his book and looked at the other boy, confused as to why he wanted to ask _him_ something. "Sure."

"Why you never go to the House parties?"

The chubby boy blinked, he was not expecting that. "I guess I don't like them."

Harry frowned. "But why?"

The other wizard simply shrugged. "They are boring if you don't get plastered, and I don't really see the point in that. Why do you ask?"

Harry gave a shrug of his own. Neville was right; they were boring if you did not drink enough to pass out, and to be frank he agreed with Neville in that they were absolutely boring. "Mione and I don't like them either, I was just wondering why you don't." Harry only attended because it was expected of him and because he wanted to fit in. The only two to never attend in the whole Tower were Neville and Hermione, and she had told him the something along the same lines Neville had when he had asked her why she never drink.

The boy nodded, Harry was always the first one to go to bed in a party night, and he himself always retired early in the night, opposed as what many of their roommates did. "You two are smart." Was his final comment before returning to his book.

Harry sighed. The more he thought about it the more he convinced himself that Hermione never knew her parents. She thought so much like Neville and himself, and the only thing the two boys had in common was that they also had never got to know their parents.

He scoffed to himself. He surely had drunk too much again, Hermione had nothing in common with them. If he continued thinking along those lines next he would start thinking Voldemort was the girl's father. No, better to stop now that he knew he was wrong, before something stupider crossed his mind.

* * *

A/N: Leave a review if you'd like?


	21. Not Her, Right?

A/N: Hey! Sorry about the delay... it appears that I'm not going to update every 3rd day, but every 4th instead... well...

I owe nothing :D

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One – Not her, right?**

"Mama?"

There was no answer.

Shutting the door behind them the two witches crossed the Headmistress office to where she knew the older woman kept the item they sorely needed.

"Are you sure she won't mind?"

Hermione smiled softly at the phrase that had become so natural when they were doing something they both knew her Mama or Xeno would not like. "I don't think so." She said as she opened the door to a more private area of the office.

The younger witch frowned. That was not the right answer. "Are you telling me that it's highly probable that she'll be mad?" She watched as the older girl went to a glass cabinet and tried to open it, only to find it locked.

The brunette blinked as she started looking for the key she knew Minerva kept somewhere in one of her books behind her personal desk. "Yeah, I think she could." She shrugged as she kept looking.

Luna groaned. After Hermione had been adopted the girl had become reckless and daring when it came to the Headmistress. The older girl had stopped thinking about consequences when it came to the stern witch a long time ago if the stories she had heard were true. Minerva had spent several nights over dinner telling her the stupid ideas Hermione came with since she entered Hogwarts and the punishments she had received because of them, stories that had to be true if the red face of her silent friend was any indication.

Hermione had known the Headmistress was always on her tail, keeping tabs on her and always ready to deliver any disciplinary action that was deserved. What had started as a disappointed Professor punishing a small twelve-years-old bushy haired girl after a troll accident had become over the years in the love and familiarity that both shared. Still, Minerva was always happy to deliver punishment when the girl asked; having adopted the girl had not changed that, but for some strange reason Hermione had decided to forget that little fact. She had been doing things more fit for a bratty child since the adoption when she knew there were things the older witch did not approve of. At least the girl had not been caught doing any of them since the canning she had received at the start of the holidays.

"Neenie! We should not be here!" Luna whined. She knew what kind of repercussions messing with the Headmistress entailed.

Hermione cried in triumph once the little key fell out a worn out copy of 'Moby Dick'. Picking it up she made a quick job of opening the case and getting the bowl she was looking for. "Relax, love. I know she has a meeting at the Ministry right now."

The blonde did not look convinced, though. "Want to bet you ass on in?" She asked her with her long arms crossed.

The older girl simply smiled a toothy smile and reached for a small vial from her robe's pocket. "You only want my ass for your own use, Luna." She replied amused as she gently poured the clear liquid on the bowl. "There. We can watch the memory now."

Momentarily forgetting why they were arguing, the younger witch looked at the small Pensive with a frown. "Are you sure?"

Hermione's playful attitude disappeared in an instant, turning to something that reminded the blonde of that first time she had met the brunette. "You are the one that wanted to know what happened that night, and I rather you watch it than I tell you." She sighed.

Luna shuddered. "I'm sorry, Neenie. I don't think I can actually watch." She looked at her friend with barely concealed guilt and sorrow.

The brunette gave a sigh of her own. She knew she was pushing the girl too far, too fast. For two weeks, since the moment the younger girl had wanted to know about Voldemort's demise, she had tried to avoid talking to her, she had wanted to simply lie to her and tell her a fairy tale in with the bad, bad, bad man was defeated by love and courage. But the true was far from that, and she knew that she could never forgive herself if she lied to her Luna. "I'm sorry." She whispered, truly ashamed of her actions.

The blonde smiled and reached to hug her friend. "It's okay, Neenie. I love you."

The older girl let herself melt onto the shorter one, glad that everything was at least somewhat alright. "Love you too." She pecked the lips she had come to desire almost on daily basis. "Let's get out of here, love, before Mama comes back."

"Too late, little girl."

Both girls stiffened at the new voice that echoed in the small private office. A well-known, stern, soft, _angry_, voice. Gulping and getting out their embrace, they turned to the room's entrance, paling at the sight that greeted them.

"Hi, Mama."

"Go stand in the corner, Neenie."

"Yes, Mama."

XxXxX

The witch sighed as she kept walking through the halls of the almost silent school. It was Saturday afternoon and most students were out playing in the snow or inside doing homework, but at least they were nowhere near her. She hoped to not be disturbed. It had been maybe two weeks since her dear friend had come to ask for help, and of course she had said yes. The matter was too much important for her to say no, after all.

Voldemort and Bellatrix having a child. That was simply too bizarre to be true, but at the same time, too strange for not to be real. Nobody in the Order of the Phoenix could have imagined that the Dark Lord had actually had an heir. Never mind it was half Bellatrix, the mere fact that the vilest man on earth had been able to procreate was enough of a shock.

Sure Narcissa Black, the divorcee of Lucius Malfoy, had known all along, but she could never blade the woman for keeping it a secret. The bond between the eldest and the youngest Black sisters was legendary, both had been devastated when their sister, Andromeda, had left to marry a low Muggleborn and as such they had simply grow closer together than before.

Many thought Narcissa was a Death Eater, mainly because her oldest sister was one, but after a Veritaserum session with Bellatrix had provided that her little sister was never approached with that proposition. Minerva highly believed that it was in fact Bellatrix the one that made sure her sister was never marked with the Dark Lord's snake and skull.

Minerva knew better, Minerva had gotten to know the Black sisters when they had attended Hogwarts. She had seen the way Bellatrix had loved both her little sisters, only to be left with the youngest after Andromeda's blood treachery. The crazy witch had then doted and loved her little sister with more vigor. The Headmistress knew Bellatrix, and knew she had done everything in her power to protect the youngest Black from the repercussions following Voldemort entailed, so it had been a shock to learn that she had killed the daughter Narcissa Black swore she had loved.

Bellatrix Lestrange was a strange witch. She loved with a sick love, but it was a love filled with devotion and loyalty. If what she had learned from seeing Siruis' memory was true and Bellatrix had loved Voldemort, she can easily see what kind of love she had professed. Having a child, a child she had loved also, had surely made her even more aggressive towards the people wanting to defeat the Dark Lord. It had surely made her do anything in her power to protect her.

So this hidden girl, that Bellatrix had made it so that everybody who knew of the girl believed her dead, but actually hiding her in plain sight, was something that the crazy witch could certainly do.

According to Sirius the girl had been born in late September, 1979, meaning that the witch was cursing her fifth year at Hogwarts, if she was studying in the school.

The Headmistress sighed. She had already read through the logs that the school kept about the magical children in the United Kingdom. Once a magical child was born in the Islands the logs would magically add the name and date of birth of said children. And there it was, in bold, big, black letters, the girl's name and the date… September the nineteen.

But there was no record of any contact made with the girl, of nothing that the school had done to ensure the girl was taken care of. Much like the A.C.D., one of Hogwarts' main purposes was to make sure no magical child was neglected or harmed, that was why the school always made sure the Ministry was informed of any magical new-born at the end of each year, so the girl should had been reported at the end of 1979 at the latest. Sometimes there were so many children born that it was hard to keep count, but that had not been the case in the years leading to Voldemort's first death.

During the First Wizarding War kids were sacred… at least the pureblood ones. The Muggle-borns and half-blood were hunted and killed mercilessly. Some vampires and werewolves had aligned with the Dark Side and they were the ones responsible to eliminate all the kids that were not pure in every sense of the word. Muggles had not known what was happening in the country, but even they could sense in the most primitive part of their instincts that that was not a good time to have children.

So it was a mystery why Capella was not contacted or even registered at the Ministry as a magical child.

There was no Capella Morgen Black in the records beyond the school logs regarding her birth.

That name had haunted since the day Sirius had told her it. It had taken her at least an hour to calm the Auror at the reaction she had had when that name had exited his lips. No, she was right, she had told him, just a little pain in her wrist that had bothered her since she had helped defeat Voldemort, she had said.

Morgen.

_Morgen. _

That was the name that had provided her nightmares for days. The name that was so cursed, so stained. A name that represented the very first witch that had used her magic for the greatest evil. A name so known yet so uncommon. A name that had become popular for the last seven months.

That was the name that the press had granted the most important person in her life.

That was the name her little Neenie had been dubbed.

That was the name Voldemort had yelled when he had seen _her_ Hermione.

Capella Morgen Black and Hermione Jean McGonagall were not the same witch, right? Right?!

They needed to make the students use the Name Potion. She needed to be sure she was wrong. She needed to be sure her baby was not Voldemort's.

The tired Headmistress sighed again glad to finally reach the door to her office. She was ready to collapse in a minute. Her meeting with the Ministry had ended sooner than she had expected, but that was okay. It was great even, because she really needed time to herself, time to think and regroup her ideas. And she surely did not need to deal with any kind of trouble right now.

But of course the powers to be were not okay with her wishes. She sighed yet again as she slowly made her way to the door that lead to her personal rooms when she was distracted by voices. Voices in her personal office. Voices she knew, knew too well.

Minerva groaned. _'Why, oh Merlin, why she won't behave for just a couple of months?'_

XxXxX

She stared at the entrance of the Common Room, waiting. School had started for a month and a half now and they had yet to see her.

Loony Lovegood had not been seen in Ravenclaw for as long as that. No. For longer than that. Loony's disappearance act had begun the weekend before the holidays started. She remembered well, that night the girl had been striped and tossed out the Tower. It had been the night when the charm's stones had been broken, the coldest night they had ever had in the castle.

Nobody knew where the kid was, but they all missed her. They missed making the girl cry. They missed making fun of her. They missed the pranks they could come up with, each on better than the last, each one of them Claws trying to outdo the other.

For a moment they had thought that maybe the girl had finally given up, that she had asked to go home and the Headmistress had agreed. They were not concerned about being punished, no, Professor Flitwick did not like the blonde either, and as powerful as the Headmistress was, she could not punish students without proof _and_ without the Head of House support. Having none the stern witch could not touch them.

So they did not know what had happened to Loony, but they were just a tad disappointed when they had thought the girl had gone home. There would no longer be something to entertain them. Sure the girl disappeared on them just before holidays, but the blonde was not known to hide for longer than the night. She always came back to her dorm, looking for clothes and her school things. They had not seen her for the whole weekend, up until she had boarded the Express to go home in the company of no other than Morgen.

The fifth year Gryffindor had been always a sore topic for the Ravenclaws. There was no reason for the smartest witch of the century to be sorted in such an idiotic house. The Weasleys, Potter, Longbottom, the Creeveys… the ones that were considered the dumbest were all Gryffindors, it was just a shock Crabbe and Goyle were not Cubs.

They were the cleverest House, but it had taken them by surprise when Morgen had actually met with the strange girl and her stranger father to take the Express back to school. The Claws that had been there for the meeting swore that the brunette had actually talked like them and that she had _embraced_ the odd Lovegood patriarch.

It had been a greater surprise the moment they all went back to the Tower after the feast, ready to start the term with a good party and a miserable Loony, when they noticed the girl was nowhere to be seen. Her roommates told them her things were not there and it did not took them that long to finally realize the girl was no coming back.

"She's certainly with that stupid Morgen…"

"Cho, did you say something?"

The Scottish witch blinked, her gaze never leaving the entrance. Loony was not coming, but she was so not going to escape them, no. Cho Chang loved making the girl miserable and just because she was no longer sleeping nearby was she going to stop being her main source of amusement.

* * *

A/N: Come one guys! I'm one review and two followers short to have the hundred. Somebody help me out here please?!

Hope you enjoyed reading :D


	22. A Different Kind of Love

A/N: Special thanks to Arial Wolf and XXXNarcissaXXX for being my 100 reviewer and follower, respectively. You guys made my day.

I liked this chapter and it made me cry while I was revising it. Hope you liked it as I did.

I owe nothing.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two – A Different Kind of Love**

"I hate you right now."

"It wasn't that bad."

"What?!"

"Oh, come on, it really wasn't that bad."

Luna glared at her friend from her position in the floor, just in front of their lit fireplace. She was lying on her stomach, the warmth from the flames was comforting for her chilled skin, but not so much for her backside. "It's your fault she was mad and you're not even just a little sorry?"

Hermione shrugged, she was laying in a similar position a top their loveseat. "Nah, she really went easy on us. On you more than me."

The blonde shook her head utterly speechless. Not an hour ago this very same girl had been crying her eyes out face-down in her Mama's lap. The Headmistress had been utterly angry at them for being in her personal office, idea of her lovely companion, after she had specifically told the older girl that said office was off limits more than once. McGonagall had punished them as she had always punished her daughter and in this case Luna had received her own share of Scottish fire, though she was glad to notice that it was Hermione the one that faced the blunt of her anger. "You enjoy way too much your spankings."

The brunette blushed a nice shade of red. "I do not!"

The second year simply looked at her with a blank expression. "They pray tell me why you enjoy getting yourself in so much trouble."

Hermione scoffed. "No one likes to be in trouble."

"You do."

"I don't!"

"Really? Who was the one that got herself punished because of a stupid troll? Who was the one that got herself in trouble for a small dragon? The one that actually went against a three-headed dog? Who was stupid enough to try and defeat several traps in her first year, when she was so new at magic? Huh? Tell me please, who was the one that got herself turned into a kitten? The one that stole from Snape's personal supply and also stole a book from the Restricted Section? Who-"

"Luna, stop." The brunette sighed. "I get you point."

"I wasn't even half way through the list, you know?"

"I know."

"Then why? Why do you enjoy breaking rules?"

Hermione frowned. "I don't. I just do things without actually thinking, you know?"

The other girl sighed. "I know you're a Gryffindor, Gryffindors don't think before acting, you know you are actually the only voice of reason in your house, but sometimes I wonder if you're not only seeking Minerva's attention." The Headmistress was always busy and more often than not they did not see her for days other than their meals at the Great Hall. This term had been especially busy and Hermione had not spend time with her mother since their Christmas Break. Luna was not blind, the brunette missed her Mama.

"..."

"Neenie?"

The brunette looked at her friend with sorrowful eyes. The deep of her bronze orbs made Luna's blood run cold. "When I was young I never really have a mother, you know? I was always with my Grandmama, she was the one who taught me read and write and made sure I went to school. She was practically rich and had some business, so when I was out of school I was always with her, learning how to manage them, how to make money. I never really saw Mr and Mrs Granger, th- don't give me that look, Luna, I refuse to call them anything else."

"They are your parents, Neenie."

"Parents love you. Parents teach you. I was ignored by them all the time, only once a week did I see them, when Grandmama made sure that Saturdays after dinner we spent some family time. We had to sit for an hour at the dinner table, waiting for someone to say something, anything, just to feel relieved when the hour was up and all of us could leave without Grandmama getting angry." The older girl chuckled sadly. "Nobody made Grandmama angry."

"Either way, I never had parents, Luna. I'm sure they never loved me. I never received a kiss, or a hug from them. There were no Christmas or birthday's gifts. They never attend my plays or my debate competitions. They are nothing to me, Luna. My so called mother, Candice, was disowned when she got pregnant out of marriage, my Grandmama forced my 'father', Richard, to marry her and do the honorable thing. I am an accident, and I cost them their lives, I am an accident they tried to ignore as they ignored each other. I don't even know why it hurts this much knowing they simply left, even knowing for certain that I don't matter to them, but also knowing that they're out there, living their bloody lives happy without me, and I'm sure each took their own path, but Mama…" Hermione trailed off, her eyes downcast and filled with sadness, but there were no tears, as she refused to keep crying over them, no matter how much it still hurt.

"She cares." Luna nodded. She could not understand what it was not to have parents that loved her, nor having only a grandmother who took care of her, because she had had both her parents for years, and although her daddy was sometimes absentminded and a little out of himself, she knew he still loved her, just as her Momma had always loved her. Not having loving parents was a strange notion for her, but it was something she could respect. From the corner of her eye she saw how the portrait of the Baron opened, but her friend was far too gone in her tale to take notice.

"Aye."

"So you do stupid things why?" She could understand how Hermione loved her Mama, yet she could not understand why she kept getting herself in trouble. The brunette was still none the wiser of the new occupant of the room.

"She cares, Luna." With a little difficulty the older girl sat herself fully, wincing when the movement reminded her of her Mama's anger. "Before I came here I had no one. My Grandmama was killed shortly after I turned ten, so I had to fend for myself for almost two years. But as much as my Grandmama spent time with me, took care of me, I'm not sure she loved me either. She made sure I was safe and had the skills I needed to take over her business, yet more often than not I felt the same when I was with her than what I felt with my school teachers and tutors, they were there just to guide me through a series of motions and lessons. But Mama cares, she's interested in what I want to do, what I enjoy, what is my favorite color and why I'm sad or happy." She smiled softly. "I was taught to never disobey but to always think before acting and behaving according my necessities, my wants. I had no friends because Grandmama thought they were simply distracting, but I was allowed to spend time with kids my age to learn to manipulate them, to use them. I enjoyed it. I knew no better. I learnt what she taught me and I was never wrong in her eyes. The only mistakes I ever did were regarding her business and if I did something to lose money or trade partners I was taught about my mistake and had to work one way or another to fix it, but I was never scolded or punished.

"When I came to Hogwarts I was the same Hermione I was taught to be. I was really no better than Malfoy, but I was most clever, more subtle. I was going to rule this school, starting by the teachers. The Sorting hat was hesitant on making me a Slytherin, but he finally decided to send me to Gryffindor. I did not understand it at the time, but now I know it was the best thing that could ever happen to me. It was the first time I was surrounded by people my age all the day and that made me realize that people could actually have friendships without trying to get something out of them, that there was something different out there."

Luna blinked. For as long as they had ever talked, this was the very first time that Hermione had actually told her something about her time before Hogwarts that did not exactly connected with the lessons her grandmother taught her. What she was hearing scared her and she knew that this was not something her friend would want the Headmistress to know. "Neenie…"

The brunette did not hear her because she simply kept talking. "I always wanted to have a friend and I thought that Harry was my best option, not because he was famous, or rich, or even popular, but because I had known by then that he was as parentless as I was. I thought that we had something in common, but I was mistaken. He was more normal than I was and he already had a friend, Ron. Ron was the one that made me realize I was totally different, he was always so vocal with his dislike for me and his beliefs. He called me names and everybody simply laughed agreeing with him. It was the first time in my life that I was teased, nobody in my primary school dared to cross me because they knew I was rich and I was more than able to make them pay. I went to Mama and asked her to send me home, I didn't belong here, with normal kids, I was to be in the world, taking care of my Grandmama's business and studying to be the greatest Tycoon ever… but she wouldn't let me go." She blinked slowly, two fat drops falling from her eyes. "She talked to me, Luna, and made me understand the reasons why I was to stay, that I needed to adapt, to learn."

"I remember feeling elated; she was the first person to actually comfort me, to tell me that everything would be alright. She held me, Luna, she freaking hugged me, nobody had ever done that to me, and let me cry on her shoulder. I felt loved. Two days later the stupid Troll almost killed me and I feared that I had lost her, she was so angry, so mad and so, so disappointed that when she asked me to go with her I was sure I was as good as expelled. Oh, Merlin, that's no true, I was so scared that _I_ had angered the only person to show me any kind of affection that I was ready to do anything in my power to appease her, I was ready to beg, crawl, be expelled, anything to fix my mistake. I was surprised when she told me which was going to be my punishment and I didn't hesitate to take it, because, well, maybe if I'd let her do whatever she wanted to me she'd forgive me. After she spanked me I felt the lighter I've ever felt and when she held me in her lap I knew that everything would be alright, that she cared."

The older girl smiled, the tears falling with earnest, somber at telling her the reasons she had reached when asking herself the very same thing Luna had asked her. "You asked me why I do stupid things, right? I had never known the love she has for me; there are times when I wonder if its real, if this's not a cruel dream. I think I sometimes I just need to remind myself that she's there, that she _really_ cares, and there's no other time that she cares the most than when I do something wrong."

"That's not true." A new voice echoed in the room.

Hermione jumped, truly scared. That was so not her Mama's voice. Her bronze eyes made contact with her friend's pale blue ones. She saw how her Luna looked at her with sadness and a little regret. A warm hand rested on her shoulder, making her flinch, not knowing what she had done to have her Mama hear what she just confessed. "I'm sorry." The words were out her mouth before she even registered it.

The Headmistress sat at her side, her hand running across her back and allowing her to embrace her by her shoulders. "What for?"

The brunette shrugged. She was sorry for many things, but mainly for being so reckless and stupid when it came to the two most important persons in her life. She knew Luna and her Mama where not hers, that they could get angry at her at any minute and leave, and she still made mistakes that could easily sent them away.

"Hermione?"

Said girl took a shaky breath and forced her tears to stop. She knew that if she voiced her fears Minerva would think her stupid, would finally understand that there was no reason to be around her, that she was too weak to be actually loved. And there it was, she had called her Hermione, not Neenie, not baby, just Hermione. "I'm sorry I'm always making you angry." '_At me. I'm sorry I'm so stupid, I'm sorry I'm such a disappointment. I'm sorry I'm so weak. I'm sorry I'm broken.' _"I promise it'll never happen again."

Minerva felt how her heart was stabbed. Yes, she had been angry with the girls and the Morgen matter was not helping her nerves, but she was no longer angry at her baby girl as she had received her punishment and like always she had been forgiven after that. The girl did not make her angry often, just frustrated and worried, it was her job to punish her when she did something wrong, it was something she _wanted_ to do to make sure her girl would be the wonderful woman she could be. With sad eyes she saw how her daughter's face, that had been so filled with pain when she had first entered her rooms, was now a blank canvas, void of emotion and much too serene. "Look at me."

Gathering her courage the girl complied. From the corner of her eye she saw how Luna inched her way out the sitting room to the bedroom they had been sharing for the last six weeks, and she was grateful. She could not bear knowing the younger girl was around if she crumbled before the older witch at any minute.

"I love you, Hermione, with all my heart, and no matter what you do or how you behave, I'll never stop loving you."

Hermione stared at her, her deep brown eyes dancing with barely concealed tears, yet she did not move. Her mind was playing tricks with her again. The nightmares her mind came up with at night, the ones that forced her to drink Dreamless Tonic, were not enough, no, it had to play with the love she craved from the older woman. As much as the brunette had said those words to Luna and vice versa, Minerva had never said them to her and there was no reason for her to start now. In fact, that time on the train when both she and Luna were fretting with the possibility of never seeing each other again, just after confessing to Minerva she was parentless, had been the very first time she had been told those three words. Yes, she knew the Headmistress liked her, and that she liked her enough to adopt her, but as the rest of the teachers had been showing her for days now, having her as family was just a bust of status and power.

She had been hearing and seeing the same things over and over again in the past weeks. The staff had been showing her several possibilities, several opportunities that having them as 'parents' could present her. They had showed her how it was impossible for the never caring Minerva McGonagall to actually like her, they had facts, they had stories, they had memories that had been showed to her that attested the older woman was incapable of feeling for another. Some were bullshit, some were simply a sad attempt, but then, there were the few ones that rang true with her and her insecurities. A big part of her believed them now.

Even before the staff had started hunting her and trying to convince her, she could not understand how the Headmistress could even like her when nobody did. She had friends, true, but she had always known that her friendships could end at any minute, and though they would hurt her beyond words when they ended, she was resigned to that. No one lasted, no one was constant and no one stayed behind with her, no nameless kids that played with her back in primary school, no drama or etiquette tutors, no Harry, no Ron, no mother, no father, no Grandmama, even Luna was not guaranteed if she kept acting stupid. And, as her own history had showed her, she was always the responsible no one stayed around. Why would Minerva want her?

"Hermione?"

The brunette simply closed her eyes. She could not think like that, no. This woman in front her had done everything in her power to have her, to make sure that she was right. She had helped her learn to control her power and her magic and had gone great lengths to ensure she was safe. She had to pull several strings to ensure she was in her care, she had been so proud when the girl had asked to adopt her last name. This woman loved her. Just as she loved this woman. She could not let her insecurities dictate her actions, she needed to follow her heart and stop imagining things. She needed to be true to herself and to Minerva. She opened her eyes and tears started pouring from them again. She looked at the older witch, for the first time in her life letting all her emotions show in her bottomless chocolate eyes. "Mommy?"

One half of the stern Headmistress' heart shattered at the use of that word, the stabbing she had been feeling was more of a caress compared to this breath-taking, stomach revolving, pain. The other half was blown apart at all the vulnerability and the love she saw in her baby's eyes. Never in all her years had she hoped to have someone call her that. And never, in her wildest dreams, she had hoped to have such a wonderful daughter. Her own tears started falling as she gathered the younger witch in her lap, holding on her for dear life. "Yes, my dear Neenie, yes. I love you so, so much, my little girl."

The smartest witch of the century simply let herself being rocked, hiding her face in the crook of the elder's neck as the heavy sobs wracked through her body. "I love you, too, Mommy."

* * *

A/N: Leave a thought?


End file.
